You Were Always There: Part Two
by OpenBookLina
Summary: It's Harry and Mia's second year at Hogwarts, and despite being back at school with their friends, something terrible is coming their way. Muggleborns are being attacked, Harry is hearing strange voices, and the entire school is faced with the threat of the Chamber of Secrets and the monster within. Can Harry solve the mystery and protect his friends?
1. New Discoveries and Missing Letters

**Hello everyone! I'm so excited to finally be starting the second part to my series! Thank you so much for all your reviews for my first story, they really helped me and inspired me. I know not much has happened in this first chapter, but I think it is a nice opener overall. And I know there will be some questions as to why Mia isn't receiving letters from anybody, but that will all be explained in the next chapter. Like I said, I'm sorry for the slow beginning, but I promise everything will pick up its pace in the next chapter! Let me know what you guys think! Enjoy! **

Chapter One: New Discoveries and Missing Letters

MPOV

"Brian Joseph Thatcher! For the last time, stop taking your sister's wand!"

"But Mama! Pwetty bubbles!" Brian said gleefully, bouncing up and down as he pointed at the multicolored bubbles that came from the thin wooden wand he was waving above his head like a sword. His mother, Catherine Thatcher, sighed heavily before she left the kitchen stove and picked Brian up from the floor, taking the wand from his hand.

"Mama!" Brian wailed, his face turning pouty as he reached for the wand.

"No Brian, we told you, no touching Mia's wand," said Catherine.

"My wand! My Wand!" said Brian, looking close to tears. Catherine sighed again as she placed a struggling Brian up in his high chair, and then turned to her eldest child and only daughter, Mia, who was staring determinedly at her pancakes, biting her lips to stop herself from laughing.

"Mia," said Catherine, her hands on her hips. "Your father and I told you to be more careful about where you leave your wand! Brian might hurt himself!"

"I'm sorry Mum," said Mia, trying her best to keep her voice even and keeping her eyes fixed on her food, knowing that she would crack if she dared to look up at her mother.

"I'm serious, Mia, you can't leave things like this laying around," Catherine said as she handed the wand back to her. Swallowing her giggles, Mia looked up at her mother and gave her an apologetic and sheepish smile.

"I'm sorry Mum," she repeated, this time more sincerely, and making her blue eyes nice and big. Catherine face softened and she smiled slightly, shaking her head as she went back over to the stove to finish cooking Brian's breakfast.

"What am I going to do with you two?" she muttered as she scrambled up some eggs. Mia smiled at her and then went back to eating her pancakes and bacon. Ever since Mia had come home for the summer holidays, she has barely been able to keep her wand safely out of her two-year-old brother's reach, no matter what she did. He always found a way into her room when she wasn't around and snatched her wand from under her pillow, inside her table drawers, and he even managed to climb up her bookshelf in order to get it. Although it annoyed her to no end and gave her parents headaches, Mia had to admit that Brian was extremely clever.

To the common eye, Amelia Thatcher was just an ordinary girl living an ordinary life. She had two loving parents, an adorable baby brother, lived in a big house in a quiet neighborhood, went to school, and had the three best friends that anyone could ever ask for. On the contrary, while all of this was true, it wasn't common knowledge that Mia was anything _but _ordinary. In fact, she was quite the opposite-she was a witch. A young witch who had just returned home from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where she has been learning how to cast spells, master magic, and brew potions along with many other children like her. She and her best friend, Harry Potter, the boy who has been her closest companion since she was eight years old and practically like her brother, attended this school together after receiving their acceptance letters last summer. Mia was a Muggleborn, which means that her parents, and maybe Brian, were Muggles (non-magic folk). Harry, however, was born to a witch and wizard, although for the longest time, he had no idea.

Harry Potter, along with being her best friend, was also one of the most famous wizards of all time. Many years ago, when Harry was only a baby, the most feared and dangerous wizard of all time, Lord Voldemort, came to Harry's house and murdered his parents, James and Lily Potter, in cold blood. When Voldemort had turned his wand on Harry, the curse rebounded upon himself, and his body was destroyed, and the dark lord fled into exile. It was because of this that Harry was famous. He was left with nothing but a scar on his forehead in the shape of a bolt of lightning, and was to be left on the doorstep of his relatives, where he would spend the next ten years of his life. Mia and Harry had met when they were in primary school, right after Mia and her family had moved to Little Whinging. They immediately became best friends, and had been together ever since.

Mia and Harry had had some wonderful times at Hogwarts together, and they even made two other very good friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Hermione was Mia's best girl friend, and was a Muggleborn like her, while Ron came from a huge family, all made up of wizards. The four of them had fun days at Hogwarts, but they also had frightening adventures as well. At the end of last term, while trying to save a powerful magical object known as the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry and Mia had come face-to-face with Voldemort, and they were lucky to make it out alive. Mia shivered when she thought of that horrible, snake-like face she had seen, and those evil, malicious eyes. She had been scared to death when Harry had gotten hurt, and she never really forgave herself for not being able to protect him. But Voldemort is gone for now, and it comforted her to know that she and her friends were safe. But oh, how Mia missed Hogwarts. She missed the classes, the moving staircases, the ghosts, the talking portraits, and she even missed Quidditch! Harry was the youngest member on the team, and he was absolutely brilliant! She always loved to watch him play. Yet even more than that, she missed Ron and Hermione. She and Harry didn't have any other friends from home, so she missed the two of them terribly.

But it looked like Ron and Hermione didn't seem to be missing her as much. At the beginning of the holidays, Mia received letters from Hermione two or three times a week, along with Ron. However, as the weeks went by, their letters became fewer, and then suddenly, they stopped altogether. At first Mia didn't think too much of it, but as more weeks passed on, she was starting to wonder what was going on. It wasn't like her friends to just stop writing like that with no explanation. Mia wasn't even getting anything from Jenna, or even Fred and George! It hurt that none of her other magical friends were writing to her, and she didn't understand why. When she voiced her concerns with Harry, she was surprised to hear that Ron and Hermione hadn't written to him at all. He hadn't received a single letter, and he couldn't write to them because Mr. Dursley, his uncle, had forced Harry to lock up Hedwig in her cage so he couldn't send off letters. The whole situation confused Mia to no end, but she didn't know what she could do about it.

"Mia!" Brian yelled, trying to get her attention. "Mia!"

Mia was snapped out of her thoughts as and she looked over at her brother.

"What is it Bry?"

"Magic!" he said. "Do magic!"

"I'm sorry Brian, I can't," said Mia. "I can only do it one time."

Brian pouted at her and kept repeating "magic" over and over. The little boy had been asking Mia to do magic ever since she had made an apple dance across the kitchen counter when she first arrived home. Muggleborn children were allowed to show their parents a piece of magic to prove that they were learning in school, and Brian was ecstatic, clapping and cheering as the apple slid by him. But now Mia couldn't do anything else until she went back to school for her second year.

"_Pweeeeeease _Mia?" said Brian, pulling out his bottom lips and staring at her with his puppy brown eyes, reaching his hands out for her wand. "Pwease?"

"Not fair," Mia mumbled to herself.

"Well, it's your fault for teaching him that," said Catherine as she came over with Brian's eggs, setting them down in front of him. "Eat up now, love."

Brian's mind seemed to be taken off the wand for the time being as he started eating his eggs with his hands, dipping them in the small blob of ketchup. Mia took his distraction to her advantage, stuffing the last few bites of her own breakfast into her mouth and then taking her plate over to the sink to wash it. As soon as she was done, she placed it in the cabinet, dried her hands, and then went over to kiss Brian on the head before running out of the kitchen. She went upstairs to her room near the end of the hall, where a wrapped parcel and a bunch of spell books and parchment were littered across her bed. Mia's professors had given her a good amount of summer work to do, and she wanted to get it done as early as possible so she could enjoy the rest of her summer. She gathering all of her homework and placed it in her trunk for the time being. Then she placed her wand in the back pocket of her shorts, pulling her shirt over it so it was hidden from view, and left the room, going back down the stairs.

"Mum, I'm going out to get Harry," Mia called out.

"Okay sweetheart but remember, we're leaving around two o'clock, so he won't be able to stay long," Catherine called back.

"I know, I'll be back in five minutes," said Mia before opening the door and walking outside. It was a gorgeous summer day in Surrey, complete with a blazing hot sun and a warm breeze. Mia smiled at how beautiful it was outside, then she walked across the street to Number Four, Privet Drive, where Harry lived with his aunt and uncle. She walked on up to the front door and knocked a few times, waiting. As expected, it only took a minute for Petunia Dursley to answer the door, and the minute she saw Mia standing there, she scowled. This was a common occurrence every time Mia knocked for Harry, which wasn't very often, and she would rather Mrs. Dursley answer the door than her husband. Ever since they picked up Harry from the train station last month, and evidently discovering that Mia herself was a witch, the Dursleys have been even more resentful to Mia than they already were, and whenever Mr. Dursley answered her call, he usually told her to go away and shut the door in her face. However, Mia knew that she would have better luck with Mrs. Dursley, no matter how much they disliked each other.

"Good morning Mrs. Dursley," said Mia, trying to be polite. "I was wondering if Harry could come out and play for a little while."

"He's busy doing his chores," Mrs. Dursley answered, her expression sour and distasteful and she peered down at the young girl in front of her. "He has no time-"

"I'm done all my chores, Aunt Petunia."

Mia smiled as Harry came into view beside his aunt, looking up at her pleadingly. His jet black hair was sticking up in all directions, as usual, and his bright green eyes were shining behind his round glasses. Harry was barely an inch taller than Mia, and he was much too skinny, even for a young boy. Mia's always had her suspicions that the Dursleys weren't feeing Harry properly, but she had promised him long ago that she wouldn't tell anyone about it.

"Boy!" Mrs. Dursley snapped. "I thought I told you to-"

"I did," Harry said in a rush. "I woke up early and did everything you asked, I even did some of tomorrow's work too!"

Mrs. Dursley was silent as she glared from one child to the other, and Mia could see the wheels in her head turning. On the one hand, she could let Harry go with her, seeing as the Dursleys didn't like Harry, and would probably be happy that he was out of the house. On the other hand, letting Harry go over Mia's house would make him happy, something that, Mia noticed, seemed to really irritate them.

"Oh, all right!" Mrs. Dursley finally snapped, her expression turning even more sour. "But you better expect to be pulling double work when you get back!"

Harry nodded, and then his aunt practically shoved him out the door, closing it sharply behind him. Mia scowled deeply at this, but it soon lit up into a smile when Harry turned back to face her, a smile of his stretching across his lips. Almost instantly, Mia wrapped him up in a hug, as they did almost every time they would meet up. It just felt so natural to hug Harry, and she never got tired of it. When they released each other, they eagerly walked across the street to Mia's house. As soon as they were inside, Mia and Harry walked through the hall so they could go out the back door in the kitchen. When they entered, Catherine turned and smiled at them.

"Hello Harry dear," she said kindly.

"Hello Mrs. Thatcher," said Harry, smiling back. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you," Catherine replied, but she didn't get a chance to say anything else, because there was a loud squeal of "Awwy!" and everyone turned to see Brian bouncing a little in his high chair, a beaming grin on his face.

"Hey Brian," said Harry.

"Wand!" Brian said loudly. "Wand, Awwy, wand!"

"Oh for goodness sake," muttered Catherine as Harry smiled apologetically at the toddler and Mia rolled her eyes fondly. "I don't know what I'm going to do when you two leave again-Brian's going to be a handful."

"He'll be fine Mum," said Mia. "Come on Harry, let's go out back, my dad put up the tire swing for us!"

Harry nodded enthusiastically, then he and Mia dashed back outside into the sunshine and bounded off the back porch, heading over towards the tire swing that hung from the giant maple tree that stood in a corner of the yard. Mia quickly ran over to it and climbed on, pushing her legs through the hole and sitting there while Harry went behind her and started pushing, making her spin in circles as she went back and forth, giggling.

"I can't believe it's July already," said Mia. "Soon we'll be going back to Hogwarts!"

"I know, I can't wait," said Harry, then his smile faded a little. "Have you heard from Ron or Hermione?"

"No," Mia answered softly. "I haven't gotten anything from them. I don't understand why they just stopped writing to us."

"Me neither," said Harry, and Mia could hear the hidden sadness in his voice. "You don't-you don't think they don't like us anymore, do you?"

"I'm sure they do!" Mia replied quickly, although there was a small part of her that wasn't so sure. "I mean…if for some reason they didn't they probably would have told us, right? And they did write to me at first, but then the letters stopped coming. Do you think something might be stopping the letters from reaching us?"

"I don't see how that can happen," Harry murmured, a thoughtful look on his face. "What could be keeping us from receiving letters?"

"I'm not sure Harry," Mia sighed. "I just know that it's not like Ron and Hermione to stop talking to us out of the blue like that. And your positive your uncle won't let us use Hedwig just once?"

"No," said Harry gloomily. "He won't let me take her out of the cage at all."

"That's just wrong," Mia said, staring hard at the ground. "Hedwig shouldn't be cooped up like this."

"Uncle Vernon says if she keeps making noise than he'll get rid of her," said Harry, and Mia could see the concern in his face.

"That's not going to happen Harry," Mia stated firmly. "If he tries to get rid of her, just bring her on over to my house, I'll take care of her for you."

Harry gave Mia a grateful smile as he continued to push her, and the two of them were silent for a minute or two, each lost in their own thoughts. Was it really possible that Ron and Hermione didn't want to be friends with them anymore? That couldn't be-Mia knew Hermione, and she would never do something like that. But why hasn't she heard anything from her in almost three weeks? It made Mia sad that she hasn't heard from her best girl friend, and she really wished Hedwig was allowed out so she and Harry could get to the bottom of this.

"What time are you leaving for the lake?" asked Harry, obviously hoping to change the subject to a lighter topic.

"Around two o'clock," Mia answered. "I really wish you could come."

"So do I," said Harry. "But you'll have loads of fun without me."

"I highly doubt that," Mia countered with a smile. "What am I going to do for two whole weeks without my beloved Boy Who Lived?"

Harry rolled his eyes at her, but chuckled all the same, making Mia smile even wider. It was true that her, Catherine, Ben, and Brian were going to the lake for a couple weeks, and Mia and Harry tried, and failed, to convince Mr. and Mrs. Dursley to let him come along. Harry was going to be stuck on his own for the next two weeks, and worst of all, Mia would be missing his birthday. The thought saddened her, but she reminded herself it was only going to be for two weeks. Then she and Harry would have the rest of the summer to spend together. After a while, Harry and Mia switched places and she pushed him on the swing for a while, the two of them continuing to talk over small things. They also talked about the upcoming shopping trip in Diagon Alley they would be taking together. They both knew the Dursleys would never even consider taking Harry there, so Mia parents offered to take him when they got back. Both of them were pretty excited to see the Alley again, and Mia was hoping that they would run into Ron and Hermione while they were there.

"I wonder what we're going to be learning this year," Mia mused out loud.

"Hopefully more practical magic," said Harry. "And maybe we'll even have a more peaceful year."

"With your luck, most likely not."

"Hey!" said Harry, glaring playfully at her. "My luck's not that bad."

"Oh really?" asked Mia with a raised eyebrow. "Let's see, Fluffy, mountain troll, Norbert, Devil's Snare, jinxed broom-"

"Okay, okay, I get it," Harry grumbled. "But nothing's going to go wrong this year…right?"

"Probably, since you just jinxed it!" Mia laughed. "And all this time I thought you were smart!"

"Hey!" said Harry, spinning around in the tire. An idea suddenly came to Mia, and she grinned evilly, making Harry's eyes widen in fear. Without warning, she grabbed the tire and started spinning it in circles as fast as she could, ignoring Harry's loud protests.

"Miiiaaaaaa!" Harry yelled as he went round and round.

Mia just laughed at him as she kept going, and after a while, she finally let go, watching as the tire continued to spin around. After a while it finally stopped, and Harry shook his head while slowly getting off the tire. The minute he stepped onto the ground he tumbled over onto the grass. Mia burst out laughing, bending over and falling onto the grass as well as Harry glared at her.

"It's not funny!" he said.

"Yes it is!" Mia gasped, clutching her stomach. "How many of me do you see?"

"Three," Harry grumbled, trying once again to stand up, only to fall again. Mia burst into another fit of laughter, and she was so distracted that she didn't see Harry successfully stand up on his third try and wobble over towards her. By the time she realized this, it was too late. Harry leapt at her, and the two of them rolled around on the lawn until they ended up with Harry pinning her to the ground, a devious smirk on his lips. Mia instantly struggled, but Harry started tickling her sides, making her erupt into a fit of giggles. Harry kept tickling her for about a minute before he suddenly stopped and fell forward on Mia with a loud "Oof!" Both he and Mia looked up to see a happy Brian laying on top of their little pile, his face beaming.

"I win!" he said triumphantly, his expression one of adorable excitement. "I win, I win!"

"Yes Brian, you win," Mia giggled, trying to regain her breath after all the excitement. "Now let us up."

"Mia and Awwy play," said Brian as they all got up, looking at the two pre-teens with a hopeful expression, his eyes big and round. "Pwease?"

Mia and Harry looked at each other.

"He gets that from you, you know," Harry pointed out.

"Yeah, I know," Mia muttered. "Come on Bry, let's play."

"Yay!" Brian yelled happily, clapping his hands together. The next hour was varied between playing tag and hide-and-seek with Brian, and they even took turns holding him while pushing each other on the swing. At one point while playing hide-and-seek, Mia was playing the seeker, and was looking around the yard for Harry and Brian. Just as she was checking behind the tree, she heard Harry's voice from somewhere near the bushes.

"Mia-Mia, come here! Quick!"

Mia went over to where she heard Harry, and she soon found both him and Brian crouched down behind the rose bush, and both of them were looking at something in Brian's hand.

"Harry, what-"

"Shh! Look at this," he said gesturing over to the little boy in front of him. Mia bent down beside them, wondering what this was all about. As soon as she saw what Harry was pointing at, her mouth dropped open in shock, and her eyes widened at the scene before her.

Brian was holding a small rose bud in his palm, and he was staring at it as if he was expecting something. Then, before their very eyes, the bud started to blossom on its own, it's lovely petals opening up, and Mia was gazing at it with a look of shock and complete awe. Once it was fully bloomed, the flower started to close into itself again, until it was once more a simple bud. Brian let out a small giggle at this, and he looked up at Mia and Harry, his eyes shining.

"Magic!" he said. "I do magic!"

"Oh my…" Mia whispered. "I don't believe it-Brian's a wizard."

"This is amazing," said Harry with a smile. "That means he'll get to go to Hogwarts when he's older."

Mia smiled as well and she pulled her brother in for a tight hug, excitement swelling in the pit of her stomach. Brian's a wizard-a wizard! He's special, just like her, and he'll get to learn magic once he's old enough to go to school. Mia always wondered if this was going to happen, and now it is! This was incredible, she couldn't wait to tell her mum and dad!

HPOV

After discovering that Brian was a wizard, Harry and Mia eagerly brought him back inside the house where they told Catherine about what they had just witnessed. Of course she was surprised to say the least, dropping the laundry she was carrying and staring at them all with wide eyes. At first she was speechless, but after a lot of coaxing, Mia was able to get Brian to make the flower bloom again, and Catherine was simply overjoyed. She couldn't believe she had two magical children, and she gave them both an extra tight hug, saying how proud and happy she was.

They spent most of the morning inside, talking about all the trouble Brian would get himself into at Hogwarts, playing games, and watching some T.V. in the living room. Soon enough Brian started to get sleepy, so he was put down for his afternoon nap while Harry and Mia went up to her room. When they entered, Harry saw Mia' pet Siamese cat, Sapphire, curled up on the blanket, her head under her paws, and bathing in the sun. Upon hearing them enter, Sapphire yawned and stretched out her back, staring at them with curious eyes. Harry went over and took a seat next to the cat. The name tag on her collar jingled as she stood up and brushed herself against him, purring contentedly. Harry stroked Sapphire's fur before she went over to Mia and settled herself in her lap. Harry smiled at Sapphire as she soaked up Mia's affection, and then he looked over and noticed a wrapped package sitting on the pillow. Before he could even ask what it was, Mia grabbed it and handed it to Harry with a grin on her face.

"Happy Birthday Harry," she said.

"My birthday's not for a few more days," said Harry as he took the parcel.

"I know, but I feel bad that I'm not going to be here for it," said Mia. "Besides, I'm hoping this will make it a better day for you."

"Me too," said Harry. "Uncle Vernon hasn't stopped talking about that stupid dinner party he's having. I'm probably going to spend the whole night in my room."

"I'm sorry I won't be here to cheer you up," Mia said sadly.

"It's okay Mia," said Harry, giving her a reassuring smile. He stared down at the package in his hands and began to tear off the wrapping paper. He grew curious when he saw a plain box underneath, but when he opened it, his eyes went wide and a smile came across his face, Inside the box was what appeared to be an entire Gryffindor themed merchandise set. There was a cap with a Gryffindor lion on the front, some red and gold banners, and even a scarlet shirt with gold letters spelling out "Seeker" on the back and the Gryffindor crest on the front.

"Wow Mia!" Harry breathed. "This is great! Where did you get this?"

"While I was writing Hermione we were coming up with some birthday gift ideas," Mia answered as she continued to pet Sapphire's back. "She sent me a catalogue for that Quality Quidditch Supplies store in Diagon Alley, and they sell these packages custom made, so you can get it with any house color. Do you like it?"

"I love it! Thanks!" said Harry enthusiastically, pulling out the cap and placing it on his head. It was a little big and slipped down his forehead over his eyes. He frowned at this while Mia giggled.

"Don't worry Harry, I'll shrink it down to size when we go back to school," she said. Harry smiled at her at the thought, his insides feeling warm at the idea of going back to Hogwarts. To him, it wasn't merely going back to school-it was going back _home. _Every day since the summer holidays started, Harry had been dreaming of the day when he and Mia would be returning to Hogwarts to start their second year as students, and he was anxious to see his friends again…that it, if he even had friends. He was still upset and confused about why Ron and Hermione haven't written to him, and hopefully he'll see them in Diagon alley and ask what's been going on.

Time seemed to fly by more quickly than they thought, because before they knew it, a couple more hours passed, and it was one o'clock. Harry and Mia were in the middle of watching a film when they heard the sound of a car pulling up into the driveway, soon followed by the opening and closing of the door. The two of them immediately stopped what they were doing, jumped off of Mia's bed and raced down the hall and down the stairs. By the time they reached the hallway, the front door opened and Ben Thatcher stepped inside, wearing his business suit and looking tired, but cheerful.

"Dad!" cried Mia.

"Hey princess!" Ben greeted, his face lighting up at the sight of his daughter running towards him. He set down his briefcase and picked Mia up in a tight hug, kissing her cheek. When he set her down, Ben looked over at Harry, smiled, and pulled him in for a one-armed hug, playfully ruffling his hair. Harry smiled as Ben did this. He was starting to get much better at being embraced so much by Mia's parents, and even after all these years, it was still hard to believe they saw him as their second son.

"How are you Harry?" asked Ben.

"I'm good, thanks Mr. Thatcher." Harry replied.

"That's good to hear," said Ben. "Are you all packed for the lake Mia?"

"Yes," Mia replied. "I'm all set."

Ben nodded at her just as Catherine came into the hallway with a grumpy looking Brian in her arms. He didn't seem impressed at being awakened from his nap. However, the little boy managed a smile when he saw his father and immediately reached out for him, saying "Dada!" While Ben took his son into his arms, Harry turned to Mia.

"I think I should probably get going," he said. "My aunt and Uncle will be expecting me back pretty soon."

Mia looked at him sadly, but nodded all the same. While she went back upstairs to get his gifts, Harry stayed to thank Mrs. Thatcher for letting him spend the day there. She hugged him and told him it was no trouble, and that she couldn't wait to see him when they got back. Catherine gave him a kiss on the forehead just as Mia was coming back down with the box in her hands.

"Don't forget, we're going to Diagon Alley not long after we get back, okay?" she said as she handed him the box. "I'll miss you Harry."

"I'll miss you too Mia," he said. "At least it's only for a couple weeks."

"Yeah, try not to get into any trouble while I'm gone, all right?"

"Come on Mia, what could possibly happen?"

Little did Harry know that in only a few days' time, he would be cursing himself for ever saying those words.

**Rate and review please! **


	2. Reunited

**Hey everyone. I'm sorry it took a little while to get this one up, my finals start Monday, so I've been studying a lot this week, and I've suffered a little bit from Writer's Block, so I apologize if this chapter isn't that great. It might be another week or so before I post up the next chapter, just so you guys know. I hope you guys like this, and any comments or questions you may have, just let me know, okay? Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter are not mine.**

Chapter Two: Reunited

MPOV

"No! Dad, no!"

"One-two-"

_"No!"_

"Three!"

Mia squealed as Ben tossed her up into the air and she landed into the cold water of the lake with a huge splash. Her body jerked at the contact and the sudden change of temperature, and she quickly swam back to the surface, sputtering. She glared at her father, who was standing on the dock, grinning shamelessly at her.

"Dad!" Mia yelled. "That wasn't fair!"

"You should pay more attention when someone sneaks up behind you love," Ben chuckled. Mia continued to glare and stuck her tongue out at him like a five year old. Ben laughed at her face, and then backed up a little. Then he broke out into a run, leaping off the end of the dock and pulling his legs in for the perfect cannon ball. As he landed in the water, the water splashed into Mia's face and she laughed as well, rubbing the water out of her eyes. A few seconds later, Ben came shooting out of the water, shaking his head and sending little droplets everywhere. With a wicked smile, Mia jumped at him without warning and dunked his head back under the water, letting out a triumphant "Ha!" When he came back up, he looked around and when he caught sight of her, a sly grin stretched across his face, and Mia's smile instantly dropped. Letting out another squeal, she quickly took off, swimming as fast as she could with Ben right behind her. He caught her in next to no time, and Mia made a shriek of laughter as Ben threw her over his shoulder and started spinning her around in the water.

It was the second day into their vacation, and Mia was already having a great time with her family. They had unpacked everything at the cottage last night, and today they set out for the lake by noon. Mia was so excited, she loved coming to the lake in the summer time. The surrounding pines were a luscious green, and the days were nice and warm, perfect conditions for swimming. They set up not far from the water, with a couple pull out chairs and a rather large blanket to eat their lunch on. There were some other families out and about as well, as there were a group of other kids playing not too far from where they were. While Mia and Ben were messing around, Catherine had Brian with her at the shallow end, watching him as he threw rocks into the water and played with his sailboat. After getting splashed and dunked a few a while longer, Catherine called out that it was time to eat, and so Ben and Mia swam over towards her in a race, which Ben won. Dripping wet, Mia grabbed her towel from one of the chairs and dried herself off before sitting down next to Brian on the blanket, while Ben brought out the cooler from the van and started taking out their food. They family chatted happily as they ate their sandwiches and drank their juice, and Mia giggled at Brian, who was getting sticky peanut butter all over his face. As soon as they were done eating, Mia took Brian back over to the shallow end of the water while Catherine and Ben started to clean everything up and put it back into the van. While Mia and Brian were playing together in the sand, Mia suddenly felt something hit her in the back of the head, making her jerk forward.

"Ow!" she said, rubbing the back of her head and looking around for whatever hit her. She saw a beach ball sitting beside her, and she picked it up, wondering where on earth it had come from.

"Over here!" yelled a vice from behind her. Mia turned around to see a small boy who looked to be around her age coming toward her, wearing a simple white t-shirt and a pair of swimming trunks. His shaggy auburn hair fell into his face, and his hazel brown eyes sparked with excitement as he ran. Mia thought he looked vaguely familiar, although she had no idea how. The boy stopped when he was in front of her, giving her a sheepish look.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit you," he said. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Mia, handing the ball back to him. As he took it, the boy stared at her thoughtfully, as if he were trying to piece together a puzzle.

"I think I know you," he said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, you look familiar…wait, you're Amelia Thatcher, right?" asked the boy, a wide grin stretching across his face.

"Er, yeah," Mia replied. "It's just Mia though. How did you know?"

"My name's Alex Parker. I'm in Hufflepuff," he added, lowering his voice. "We had Herbology together last term."

"Oh!" said Mia in realization. "I remember now—you always work behind Hannah and Susan."

"Yeah," said Alex, nodding eagerly. "And you always work with Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. You guys are pretty popular."

"Are we?" asked Mia in slight surprise.

"Of course," said Alex. "Everyone knows that you're Harry Potter's best friend, and after what happened with Quirrell, that's all anyone ever talked about. You guys were really brave going after him like that."

"Um, thanks, I guess," said Mia, a pink tinge to her cheeks. "What are you doing here Alex?"

"I'm here with my parents and brothers, we're spending the weekend here," Alex replied. "We actually live pretty far from here, but my dad got some time off of work at the Ministry, so we decided to come to the lake."

"What does your father do?" Mia asked in curiosity, not knowing anyone who worked in the Ministry.

"He works in the Magical Law Enforcement Department," Alex answered. "He usually works a lot, so it's not often he gets time off. Are you here with your parents?"

"Yes, we're here for two weeks, and then we're going home."

"That's good. Hey, do you want to play with us?" Alex asked, indicating the other boys who were waiting not too far away.

"I'd love too, but we're going to be leaving soon," said Mia. "But we might be coming back tomorrow. Maybe I'll see you then?"

"Sure, that's fine," said Alex with a bright smile. "It was good seeing you again Mia."

"You too Alex," she said, returning his smile. Alex gave a small wave, then he started running back over to where his brothers were, and as Mia watched him go, she couldn't help but smile. This was great, she doesn't know any student outside of school except for Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Alex seemed really nice, and very sweet too. This was so exciting, now she knows another wizard! She couldn't wait to tell Harry about this!

"And who exactly was that Mia?"

Mia turned around to see her parents coming over towards her and Brian. Catherine had a knowing and pleased smile on her face while Ben was staring after Alex, a slight frown on his face and his eyebrows furrowed.

"That was Alex," answered Mia. "He goes to school with me."

"Well, he seems like a nice boy," said Catherine, her smile still on her face. "What did you two talk about?"

"Yes, what did you talk about?" said Ben, bringing his attention to Mia.

"Not too much—he accidently hit me with his ball and came over to apologize. He's here with his family, and he's staying for the weekend."

"That's nice, maybe we'll you will get to see him again," said Catherine.

"Do you like him?" Ben suddenly asked, rather bluntly.

"Ben!" said Catherine, glaring at her husband.

"What?" said Mia, feeling her cheeks burning. "No, I don't like him! I barely even know him!"

"You two seemed awfully close to each other," stated Ben suspiciously.

"Oh for heaven's sake Ben, he was just saying hello," said Catherine.

"So you think…"

Mia just stood there, shock still and completely flustered while Catherine nudged Ben in the side, telling him to drop it. To serve as a distraction, Mia, her face still hot, went over to help Brian build his little sand castle. Time seemed to slip past them, and before they knew it, it was almost three in the afternoon, and Brian suddenly yawned, rubbing at his eyes.

"I think we should head back," said Catherine, stooping down to move Brian's hands away, so he wouldn't get sand in his eyes. "Brian needs to take a nap."

"Already?" said Mia, frowning sadly at her mother.

"Don't worry love, we still have a whole thirteen days left," said Ben as he came to stand beside Mia. "We can always come back tomorrow."

"Yeah, I guess so. And Alex said he'll be back, so you guys can meet him," said Mia, perking up instantly.

"Or maybe we should give the lake a break," Ben said hastily. "There's always Monday—"

"Oh Ben stop worrying so much," said Catherine, picking Brian up. "She wants to spend time with her friend."

"How do you know he's just a friend?" Ben muttered under his breath.

"Dad!" whined Mia. Ben chuckled at her, shaking his head, but Mia still knew he wasn't going to let it go so easily. They packed up the last of their things into the van, and soon enough, everyone was piled inside and they were driving back to the cottage. Brian easily fell asleep in his car seat just after five minutes and Mia smiled fondly at her little brother. He was still of it out when they finally got back, and Mia helped Ben bring everything in from the van while her mother went inside to put Brian in his bed. Just as Mia was dragging a couple chairs and Brian's toys into the house, she heard a strange noise, almost like some sort of dying animal.

"What in the world is that?" said Ben. Mia looked up to where Ben was pointing, and was shocked at what she saw. In the distance, flying straight towards them, was what looked like a puffed up brown feather duster with wings, sinking lower and lower, with something tied to its leg. It was swaying from side to side, as if it didn't quite have a sense of direction, and Mia instantly knew what this weird creature was.

"Errol!" she cried out, her heart soaring with the outmost excitement. "Dad it's Errol! He must have a letter from Ron!"

"Errol?" said Ben. "But that means—Mia quick, open the window!"

Mia dropped the things she was carrying and raced over to the front window, quickly undoing the lock. She just managed to unlock the window, thrust it open, and move aside before a ball of fluff went shooting past her and collided into the loveseat, bouncing off the cushions and landing on the floor. Mia went over to the large bird, which was laying spread eagle on the floor, and appeared utterly exhausted. If it wasn't for the fact that his chest was moving, Mia would have though Errol was dead. She gently gathered the bird into her hands and held him against her.

"Are you all right Errol?" she said. Errol didn't move, but he gave her a feeble hoot. Mia rolled her eyes at the aging owl just as Ben came inside.

"Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's just tired," said Mia. "I think he may need some water."

"Here, take the letter off of his foot, and I'll take him to the kitchen and get him some water," Ben offered. Mia nodded, and then she placed Errol in her father's arms, relieving his burden off of him in the process. Once Ben had carried Errol of to the kitchen, Mia sat down on the loveseat and beamed when she saw Ron's familiar untidy scrawl on the front, spelling out her name. Ripping open the envelope, Mia unfolded the parchment and began to read.

_Mia,_

_What the bloody hell is going on?! Why haven't you and Harry been answering any of my letters? I asked you two to come and stay over my house about twelve times already. Is everything all right? Are you guys hurt? I've been talking to Hermione, and she says you haven't answered her either, and so have Fred and George! We're getting really worried Mia, and so are my parents. Listen, if you don't answer this letter, my brother's and I are going to come and see what's going on. Please write back to me, we're all worried about you!_

_-Ron _

Mia stared down at the letter, more than just a little confused. What was Ron talking about? From this sound of it, he and Hermione had been sending her lots of letters. But she hasn't gotten anything! This is the first one she's received in weeks from anybody, and what confused her even more is that if Ron says he's been sending her letters, then how in the world did she get this one? There were so many questions going on inside her head, she didn't even know what to think. She re-read the letter a couple more times, but it didn't become any clearer. She heard the sound of footsteps coming up next to her, and then she saw Catherine, looking at the letter in her hands.

"Mia? What have you got there?" she asked.

"A letter, from Ron," Mia replied. "It's the first one I've gotten in weeks, and it doesn't make any sense. He says he's been sending me lots of letters, and Hermione too, but I never got them."

"Maybe they got lost in the mail," Catherine suggested.

"I'm not sure Mum," said Mia. "Errol is old, but he would have made it to our house eventually. I'm going to go upstairs and write him back."

Catherine nodded at her, and then Mia took off up the staircase on the second floor, determined to find out what was happening. When she was inside her room, she crossed over to the desk, pulled out her ink and parchment from the drawer, sat down, and started to write her reply.

_Ron,_

_ What do you mean I haven't been writing to you? This letter was the first one I had gotten from you in weeks! I haven't heard from you since the second week of July, or even from Hermione, Fred or George! Harry says he hasn't received any letters at all, and we were both starting to think that you had forgotten about us. I don't know what's going on here, but I do know that something has to be stopping mine and Harry's letters, because I can't think of any other explanation. _

_ Don't worry, I'm fine, I'm at my family's cottage right now for a couple weeks, Errol's just arrived today with your letter. Harry hasn't been able to send you anything because his relatives made him lock up Hedwig in her cage, and they won't let him set her free at night. They've been so horrible to him this summer, he's not allowed outside too much, and I didn't want to leave him all alone, especially on his birthday, but he wasn't allowed to come with me and my family. I'm sorry we haven't been able to speak Ron, I'm just so confused about all this! Maybe you can ask Hermione about it. And is there anything you can do to help Harry? Please write back soon!_

_Love From,_

_Mia_

Mia finished up the letter and then sealed it inside an envelope, writing Ron's name on the front. She bit her lip as she stared at it, wishing she could send it now, but she knew Errol had to get some rest before taking off again. She really hoped Ron might have an idea as to what was stopping the letters, because at this point, Mia was absolutely clueless…

HPOV

It was safe to say that as of right now, Harry Potter was mad. No, forget mad, he was downright_ angry. _Out of all the things to happen to him tonight, he never would have expected to be in the situation he was in at that very moment.

He was standing in the middle of his bedroom, glaring at a small, ugly creature that probably came up just past his knees, with large, flappy, bat-like ears, huge, tennis ball sized green eyes, and wearing a dirty old pillowcase for clothing. This creature's name was Dobby, and he had appeared in Harry room at the worst possible time imaginable. Harry's relatives were entertaining their guests downstairs, and his Uncle Vernon was hoping to strike a business deal with some rich builder. He had sent Harry up to his room, and made it clear that he would make Harry regret having ever been born if he made so much as one sound. Of course, everything seemed to go well until Harry came across Dobby sitting on his bed when he arrived.

Dobby was a house elf, a creature that was born to serve as a slave for one wizard family forever until the day he died. Harry knew straight away from Dobby's appearance and his behavior that the family he served was cruel to him, and he felt a little sympathy for the elf. Then the sympathy turned into shock when he understood why Dobby had come to Harry in the first place. Dobby had warned him that terrible things would be happening at Hogwarts this year, that there was a dangerous and foul plot at hand, and Dobby was trying to make Harry swear that he would not return to school that year. Harry was dumbstruck, and whenever he tried to get Dobby to tell him what terrible things would happen, the elf would start beating himself up, and make loud, screeching sounds of pain. On top of that, Dobby continued to try to make Harry agree not to go back to school, but Harry refused. There was absolutely no way he wouldn't be going back to Hogwarts. It was his home, it was where his friends were, and he didn't want to stay with the Dursleys! After explaining this to Dobby, the little elf had slipped up and let on that he knew Harry wasn't receiving any letters from his friends. It was at that point that Harry's shock turned into anger as Dobby pulled out two stacks of letters from an inside pocket in his pillowcase. Harry instantly recognized Hermione's neat writing, Ron's untidy scrawl and even a scribble that looked as though it was from the Hogwarts gamekeeper Hagrid. But what really made Harry angry was that it wasn't just his letters Dobby was holding.

"Harry Potter mustn't be angry with Dobby…" the elf said anxiously.

"It was you!" Harry said. "You've been stopping my letters! And you took Mia's too!"

"Dobby had no choice sir," Dobby said. "Dobby hoped if Harry Potter thought his friends had forgotten him, Harry Potter might not want to go back to school, sir. And Dobby soon realized that Harry Potter's friend went to Hogwarts as well, and that she was writing to Harry Potter's school friends. Dobby didn't want to do it, but he had to take Miss' letters too, so that it would still seem as if Harry Potter's friends had still forgotten him."

"Give me those, now," said Harry, reaching forward and making a grab for the letters. Dobby quickly dodged him and held the letters out of his reach.

"Harry Potter will have them, sir, if he gives Dobby his word that he will not return to Hogwarts. Ah, sir, this is a danger you must not face! Say you won't go back, sir!"

"No!" said Harry angrily. "Give me back my friends' letters!"

"Then Harry Potter leaves Dobby no choice," said the elf sadly, shaking his head. Before Harry could do anything, Dobby darted to the bedroom door, pulled it open, and sprinted down the stairs. A horrible sense of dread filled Harry, because he knew for a fact that the Masons haven't left yet.

"Dobby, no!" Harry said, hurriedly going after the elf. "Come back!"

Harry raced down the stairs as quiet as he could, jumping the last six stairs and looking around for Dobby. He listened to make sure no one had heard him before he ran up the hall into the kitchen and as soon as he entered, he felt his stomach disappear, and the feeling of dread increased ten-fold as he took in the sight in front of him. Aunt Petunia's masterpiece of a pudding, the mountain of cream and sugar violets, was floating up near the ceiling. Harry's heart was beating frantically in his chest, his mind spinning. _No, no, please no. _He looked around and then spotted Dobby on top of a cupboard in the corner, watching him.

"No," whispered Harry, looking at Dobby desperately. "Please, don't...they'll kill me..."

"Harry Potter must say he's not going back to school," said Dobby.

"Dobby, please!"

"Say it, sir."

"I can't."

"Then Dobby must do it, sir, for Harry Potter's own good," the elf said sadly, giving Harry a sorrowful and regretful looked as he raised his hand and snapped his fingers. All at once, the floating pudding came crashing down to the ground, and cream splattered the windows and walls as the dish shattered, and Harry found himself covered head to toe in the pudding. The loud ruckus cause Uncle Vernon to come charging into the kitchen, his face purple and his eyes narrowed dangerously. Harry couldn't speak, and when he looked back over to the cupboard, he saw that Dobby had disappeared from sight.

However, instead of getting better, things had only gotten worse. In less than a half hour after the pudding had fallen, an owl had swooped in through the open widow while Harry was cleaning up the mess, and it dropped a letter on top of Mrs. Mason's head before leaving. The poor woman, being terrified of birds, screamed shrilly and fled from the house, with her husband right behind her. Harry stood helplessly as Uncle Vernon bore down upon him like an angry bull, forcing Harry to read the letter out loud. With his hands shaking, Harry opened up the letter and started to read.

_Dear Mr. Potter, _

_We have received intelligence that a Hover Charm was used at your place of residence this evening at twelve minutes passed nine. As you know, underage wizards are not permitted to perform spells outside school,_ _and further spell work on your part may lead to expulsion from said school (Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage sorcery, 1875, Paragraph C). We would also ask you to remember that any magical activity which risks notice by members of the non-magical community (Muggles) is a serious offence, under section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statue of Secrecy. _

_Enjoy your Holidays! _

_Yours sincerely, _

_Mafalda Hopkirk_

_Improper Use of Magical Office _

_Ministry of Magic _

His hands still shaking madly, Harry looked up from the letter and gulped.

"You didn't tell us you weren't allowed to use magic outside of school," said Uncle Vernon, a mad gleam dancing in his eyes. "Forgot to mention it...slipped your mind, I dare say. Well, I've got news for you, boy...I'm locking you up...you're never going back to that school...never! And if you try and magic yourself out, they'll expel you!"

…

Now that Harry had lost his only weapon, he had to endure his uncle's wrath. Three days after the whole fiasco, Harry found himself sitting alone in his room at night, with iron bars on his window, a padlock on the outside of his bedroom door, and a cat flap on the bottom, where he was fed small portions of food three times a day. Harry found himself completely miserable, starved, and scared. It didn't look like his uncle was going to let him off the hook anytime soon, and he was afraid of not being able to go back to school. He wished more than anything that Mia was home—her and her parents would not stand for this, and he was positive that they could make the Dursleys let him go. But she wasn't coming back for another week and a half, and who knows if he'll even make it until then. No, as far as he was concerned, Harry was stuck like this, locked up like a prisoner, starving, and alone. Harry sighed as he sat down on his bed, looking over at his beautiful snowy owl.

"I'm sorry I got us into this Hedwig," said Harry sadly. Hedwig clipped her beak at him, staring at him softly with her amber eyes, as if trying to tell him it wasn't his fault. Moving his attention to the window, Harry gazed out at the moon, half hidden behind the clouds.

"Mia, please come home soon—I need you," he said softly. Sighing again, Harry took off his glasses, turned off his light, and then settled into his bed, and drifted off to sleep.

He had a very strange dream that night. He was on show in a zoo, with a card reading 'Underage Wizard' attached to his cage. People goggled through the bars at him as he lay, starving and weak, on a bed of straw. He saw Dobby's face in the crowd and shouted out, asking for help, but Dobby called, "Harry Potter is safe there, sir!" and vanished. He could see Mia in the crowd as well, pulling against the bars, and reaching out to him. Then the Dursleys appeared and Dudley rattled the bars of the cage laughing at him.

"Stop it," Harry muttered, as the rattling pounded in his sore head. "Leave me alone...cut it out...I'm trying to sleep..."

But the rattling didn't stop and it made Harry moan. Very reluctantly, he opened his eyes and blinked them a couple times to get them adjusted to the darkness. Moonlight was shining through the bars on the window, and, to his sock, someone _was_ goggling through the bars at him: a freckle-faced, red-haired, long-nosed someone.

Ron Weasley was outside Harry's window.

"Ron!" cried Harry, yanking his blankets back and scrambling out of his bed, groping around for his glassed and jamming them on. He ran over to the window and pushed it up so he could talk through the bars.

"Ron, how did you-what the–?" Harry's mouth fell open as the full impact of what he was seeing hit her. Ron was leaning out of the back window of an old turquoise car, which was parked in _mid-air_. Also, sitting in the front seats and grinning widely, Ron's elder twin brothers, Fred and George.

"All right, Harry?" they asked together.

"What's been going on?" said Ron. "What's been stopping your letters? I've asked you and Mia to stay about twelve times, and then Dad came home and said you got an official warning for using magic in front of Muggles..."

"It wasn't me-and how did he know?"

"He works for the Ministry," said Ron. "You know we're not supposed to do spells outside school Harry-"

"Bit rich coming from you," said Harry, staring at the floating car.

"Oh, this doesn't count," said Ron. "We're only borrowing this, it's Dad's, we didn't enchant it. But doing magic in front of those Muggles you live with..."

"I told you, I didn't–but it'll take too long to explain now. Look, can you explain to them at Hogwarts that the Dursleys have locked me up and won't let me come back, and obviously I can't magic myself out, because the Ministry will think that's the second spell I've done in three days so–"

"Stop gibbering," Ron interrupted. "We've come to take you home with us,"

"But you can't magic me out either–"

"We don't need to," said Ron, jerking his head towards the front seats and grinning. "You forget who I've got with me."

Along with Fred and George's help, Harry and Ron were able to tie a rope to the bars, and once it was good and tight, Fred revved up the car, and he kept it up until the bars finally came off, dangling in the air above the ground. Harry strained his ears and was thankful to hear that there were no sounds coming from the Dursley's room, which meant that they were still fast asleep. After lifting the bars up into the car, Harry told them about all his things being locked up, and so Fred and George easily slipped in through the window, went over to Harry's door, and picked the lock using an old hair pin. Once the door was open, Harry started rummaging around his room, packing up whatever he had so they can set off as soon as Fred and George came back. He handed his stuff out to Ron, and then the twins came back, with all of Harry's Hogwarts things with them. Fred climbed back out into the car, and he and Ron pulled everything Harry and George handed them into the car, moving as quickly and quietly as possible. As soon as everything was inside, George turned to Harry.

"Ok, let's go," George whispered. Harry nodded, but as he climbed onto the window-sill to follow George, there came a sudden loud screech from behind him, followed immediately by the thunder of Uncle Vernon's voice.

"THAT RUDDY OWL!"

"I've forgotten Hedwig!" Harry exclaimed. He tore back across the room as the landing light clicked on. He snatched up Hedwig's cage, dashed to the window and passed it out to Ron. Harry quickly climbed onto his dresser just as his bedroom door burst open, revealing Vernon Dursley in his red and white stripped night robes and fuzzy slippers. At the sight of Harry, he let out an angry bellow and rushed forward, grabbing Harry by the ankle. Ron, Fred and George immediately seized Harry's arms and pulled as hard as they could.

"Petunia!' roared Uncle Vernon. "He's getting away! HE'S GETTING AWAY! Come here, boy!"

"Let go of me!" Harry yelled, struggling to get his ankle out of his uncle's grasp.

"Come on guys, pull!" Ron said. After a couple more tires, the Weasley's gave one more hard tug and Harry finally slipped out of his uncle's clutch, tumbling on top of Ron and George into the back seat of the car.

"Go, Fred, go!" said Ron, and in the next moment, the car was shooting up towards the sky, leaving Number Four far behind. Harry straightened up, rolling off of Ron, and leaned his head out of the window.

'See you next summer!' he yelled down to his relatives, making Ron, Fred and George start howling with laughter.

"Let Hedwig out," Harry told Ron. "She can fly behind us. She hasn't had a chance to stretch her wings for ages."

George handed the hairpin to Ron and a moment later, Hedwig had soared joyfully out of the window to glide alongside them like a ghost.

"So–what's the story Harry?" said Ron impatiently. "What's been happening? We know you haven't been getting my letters."

"How do you know that?" asked Harry.

"Mia," Fred and George simply.

"I finally got a hold of her while she was at the lake," Ron explained. "She told me that you guys haven't been getting mine or Hermione's letters, and she said that Hedwig was locked up, and that your relatives weren't treating you right. She asked us if there was anything we could do to help."

"So technically, she was the one who called for this rescue mission, even though she didn't know it," said George. "By the way, she told us to tell you Happy Birthday."

Harry smiled as he sat back in the seat. Even when she wasn't there, Mia always knew what to do to help him.

"But besides that, what happened?" said Ron. "Do you know what's been stopping the letters?"

"Yes, I do. And you guys are not going to believe this…"

**Rate and review please!**

**Note: In case you guys are wondering how Mia was able to get Ron's letter, let me explain: It was easy for Dobby to stop both Mia and Harry's letters while they were at Privet Drive, but since she left, and he didn't know exactly where she went, he couldn't keep track of both her and Harry's letters. **


	3. The Wicked Witch and the Clueless Git

**Hey everyone! I'm sorry it took a while to get this chapter up, but I did warn it would probably take about a week or so. Now that finals are done and I'm finally home, I just want to relax for a while, and I'm also starting my new summer job soon in a few days. So I apologize ahead of time for my future tardiness, I will try my absolute best to make sure I don't wait longer than a week to update. **

**Well, here's chapter three, and I hope you guys like it. I know the beginning is rather slow, but believe me, it's important for later chapters and later books. Let me know of any mistakes or improvements that can be made. Enjoy guys!**

**Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter are not mine. **

Chapter Three: The Wicked Witch and the Clueless Git

MPOV

_Mia,_

_ Thank you so much for writing to Ron, you're a life saver! Him, Fred and George showed up to Little Whinging the other night in a flying car! Can you believe it? They said it's their dad's, and they took it so they could get me out of my aunt and uncle's house. You should have seen the looks on the Dursley's faces as we left. They took me to their house, and were caught by their mum. Needless to say she wasn't very happy about it, but she was glad to have me over. Ron's house is amazing, and there's magic almost everywhere you turn. I was watching Mrs. Weasley make breakfast for us, and the food mostly prepped itself, and it was all delicious. The Burrow looks like a bunch of little houses stacked on top of one another, it's really neat. I got to meet Ron's little sister Ginny, she's starting Hogwarts as a first year. She's very shy around me, she doesn't say much, and she knocks things over sometimes when she sees me. I guess I'll never really be used to being famous. _

_ The past week has been fun, the Weasleys are extremely nice. Mrs. Weasley reckons I'm too thin, she's been making me extra helpings at meals, like your mum does. There a Quidditch Pitch out back and out of view of the local Muggles. Ron, Fred, George and I usually go there to practice in the afternoon. We've received word from Hermione too, she told us to tell you she misses you a lot. We all do, and I can't wait for us all to get together in Diagon Alley. Can you still meet us there? Hermione says she'll be there as well, and Ron's dad is interested in meeting your parents. He really likes Muggles by what Ron's said. By the way, did you get our new school lists? Nearly all of them are made by that Lockheart fellow, Ron's mum says he's a very famous and popular wizard who has went on a lot of adventures and discovered a lot of things. We're probably going to be taught by fan witch this year. _

_ I really miss you, I hope you're having fun at the lake. Maybe we'll all get to go next summer, I'm sure after what happened at my uncle's dinner party, they'll be glad to be rid of me. It's a long story, I'll tell you about it once I see you. Tell your parents I said hi, and I can't wait to see you guys on Wednesday. See you soon!_

_-Harry _

Mia smiled happily as she re-read the letter she had received from Harry just days ago, stretched out across her bed amongst all her books pieces of scrap paper. She was alone in her room back at Privet Drive, propped up against her pillows, and listening to the faint sound of rain hitting her window outside. It was a miserable day in Surrey, with dark grey clouds, and a downfall of showers. Mia and her family had just returned from the lake earlier that day, and she was put out that it was raining, but since Harry was no longer at Privet Drive, she figured there wouldn't be much for her to do anyway. Apparently, Ron's rescue mission went very well, and Harry was now staying with the Weasleys. After she had sent off her letter to Ron, he quickly wrote back to her and told her that he was going to try to bust Harry out of his aunt and uncle's house. She was glad that Harry was out of Privet Drive, and she was glad the Weasleys were being so nice to him. Hearing from him has made her all the more excited to see them again at Diagon Alley, which was only in a couple days' time. Mia was so excited when she thought about it, and she was practically giddy at the idea of seeing her friends again. It was decided that everyone was going to meet up together to do all of their school shopping, to get it done and out of the way, and she couldn't wait.

Folding up Harry's letter, she put it back inside the envelope and placed it in the top drawer of her desk, where she stored all of the letters she had gotten from her friends, even Alex. After meeting him at the lake, they started to play together, and he even introduced her to his family. His mother was a case worker in the Department of the Protection of Magical Children at the Ministry, and he had one older, and one younger brother. Tyler was a fifth year Ravenclaw, and little Brandon was only seven years old, and wouldn't be starting school for another four years. It was fun playing with Alex and his brothers, and it felt good to know another wizard outside of Hogwarts. Before he left, he gave Mia his address so they could write to each other, and so far Mia has received two letters from him so far. Alex was very sweet, and Mia was glad she got to know him.

Mia sighed as she flopped backwards onto her pillows, staring idly out of the window at the falling rain. She was at a complete loss at what to do. She read all her books, she had no inspiration for a new drawing, Brian was taking a nap, and her mother was downstairs, probably watching her afternoon soap operas on the television. It was the only time of day she really had some quality time to herself, so Mia didn't want to bother her. While Mia was laying there thinking of something to do, she felt something jump up onto her bed, and she looked over to see Sapphire climbing up next to her. Mia smiled and stroked her beloved cat's fur.

"Hey there girl," she murmured softly. Sapphire purred in response, rubbing her head up against Mia's palm. Sapphire had grown quite a bit in the last year, although she was still rather small. Mia leaned over to give her a quick kiss on the head before standing up from the bed and shuffling over to the window, leaning up against the frame and letting out a groan. This was so boring, there was absolutely nothing to do! Scowling, Mia glared up at the rain, silently cursing it for making her stay inside. Bringing her gaze from the sky, Mia looked down at the sidewalk and saw that someone was walking along the sidewalk, carrying a bag of what appeared to be groceries. As she kept staring, Mia saw that this person was actually an elderly lady. She was walking a little slowly, slightly hunched over, with a cane in her hand, and a hooded jacket on her back. What was this lady doing? Why was she walking around in the rain with no umbrella? She had to be nearly soaked! Just as Mia was debating on going outside, she saw the elderly lady stumble over her feet, and she lost her grip on her bag. It fell to the ground, some of its contents falling out. Mia quickly grabbed her jacket from her chair and ran out of her room while pulling it on, hastily going down the stairs. When she reached the front hall, she went over to the coat rack and took the umbrella that was hanging from it.

"Mum, I'm going outside for a minute, I'll be back!" she called over her shoulder, then she unlocked the door and pulled it open before rushing outside, yanking her hood over her head.

"Mame!" she said. "Mame, are you okay?"

"Oh, oh I'm fine," the woman said, bending down to pick up the things she had dropped.

"Let me help you," Mia offered, stooping down and gathering all the food that fell out of the back and stuffing it back in.

"Oh no dear, you don't have to, I'll manage," said the woman in slight surprise. Mia noticed that she had a rather strong accent that she didn't quite recognize.

"No, it's no trouble," Mia countered. She hurriedly put everything back in the woman's bag and then held it out to her.

"Why…why thank you dear," said the woman with a smile. "That was very kind of you."

"You're welcome," said Mia. "Do you need someone to walk with you? I have an umbrella."

"Oh, no, I couldn't have you do that," the woman replied, shaking her head. "I still have a few blocks to go…"

"All the more reason for me to come," said Mia. "Please Mame, you shouldn't be walking out in this."

"Well, I…I suppose…" she murmured softly. Mia smiled kindly at her, and then she opened up the umbrella, which was large enough to cover the both of them, and held it above their heads. The two of them set off down the street, now safe from the rain, and Mia made sure to stay with the woman's pace, so as not to make her feel rushed. There was a slightly awkward pause between them as they walked, and Mia wasn't too sure of what to say. As they walked, the rain started to let up, but only a little, and the clouds started to shift.

"Where do you live, Mame?" asked Mia.

"Fountain Street, 155," the woman answered. "Thank you very much for doing this."

"You're welcome."

"I'm usually never out in such horrid weather, but I don't trust my car in the rain, and I had no other means of getting to the store. I was hoping to make it back home before the rain got too bad."

"Well, don't worry, I'll stick with you until you get home," Mia assured her with a smile.

"You're very kind dearie," said the woman, giving her a thankful, nearly toothless smile. "What is your name?"

"Amelia Thatcher, but everyone just calls me Mia," she replied. "What's your name?"

"Agatha Brugger, but you may call me Aggie," said the woman.

"Brugger?" said Mia, her eyes going wide for a moment. "You mean the Old Wi—I mean, you're the one who lives in that old house on the corner of Fountain Street?"

"The very one," Mrs. Brugger answered with a soft chuckle. "Are you going to run away before I cook you up for my dinner? I am a witch, after all."

"Of course not," replied Mia. "I don't believe what the other kids say. You don't look like a witch to me."

"Well, you haven't been inside my house yet," said Mrs. Brugger, a mischievous glint in her wrinkled, grey eyes. "How do you know that I haven't got a cauldron stacked away in my cupboard, or a book full of spells?"

"Because I'm a witch as well, and if you tried to eat me, I would use my magic wand to turn you into a frog before you try anything," said Mia in a serious tone. They looked at each other for a moment before laughing, with Mrs. Brugger placing a hand on her heart.

"Oh dear me, at least not everyone in this neighborhood thinks I'm a wicked old coot!" she laughed.

"People will believe anything these days."

"I agree with you on that, dear, although I'm not as witty as I once was, this old hag still has some groove up her sleeves," said Mrs. Brugger, her face splitting into a cheerful smile. Mia giggled at this as they crossed the road that led them into the next section. She and Mrs. Brugger made small talk as they continued on, and by the time they reached Fountain Street, they were laughing once again, and Mia found she really enjoyed talking to Mrs. Brugger. This elderly woman was nothing like how the kids in her old school used to describe her. She was very sweet, friendly, funny, and maybe a little on the eccentric side, but definitely not dangerous. They made their way down the street, and Mia finally was able to get a good look at the house.

It was certainly old, there was no denying it, and it was the only house on the block that had a Victorian style to it. There were two floors, and the paint was peeling off the sides, where green ivy was slithering its way up towards the roof. There was a rickety old porch swing on the front porch, where dirt and leaves littered the floor, and the wooden frames around the dusty windows were chipped, and the sign hanging on the front lawn with the house number was rusty and creaking as it swayed back and forth. Despite its appearance, Mia could actually envision a time where the house was a masterpiece in itself, with bright colors walls, lots of flowerbeds in the gardens, and lovely lilac curtains billowing through the open windows. It screamed elegance and grace and she couldn't help but feel awed by it.

"Wow, this place is huge!" she said.

"And this is only the outside," said Mrs. Brugger, nodding her head. "A lot of work was put into this house, it was once my pride and joy. Now it's just fading away, along with everyone else. Well, thanks you very much for bringing me home dear. I guess I've gotten much older than I thought."

"You're welcome Mrs. Brugger," said Mia. "I was glad to help you."

"You are very sweet," Mrs. Brugger smiled. "Let me give you a little something for being such a wonderful helper."

"Oh no, please, I couldn't," Mia protested as Mrs. Brugger reached into her pocket.

"Nonsense," Mrs. Brugger said, waving it off. "You've been very kind to me, it's the least I should do."

Before Mia could say anything else, Mrs. Brugger pulled out a five pound note and placed it in Mia's hand, giving her another smile.

"You are a sweet child Amelia Thatcher," she said. "I do hope to see you around more often."

"Me too Mrs. Brugger," said Mia with a smile. "I have to get back home, my mum will be wondering where I am. Bye!"

With that being said, Mia turned around and started jogging through the rain back to her home. By the time she got back, she was more than just a little wet, and when she opened the door, she was immediately cornered by Catherine.

"Mia, where were you?" she asked. "Why did you just run off like that?"

"I'm sorry Mum, but I had to help someone," said Mia as she shrugged out of her jacket. "I saw an old lady outside, she didn't have an umbrella with her, and she dropped her bag of groceries. I went outside to help her pick them up, and I offered to walk her home."

"I'm very happy you helped her Mia, but next time can you please give me something else other than 'I'm going outside for a minute?' I don't like the idea of you walking around with strangers, no matter who they are, or how harmless they seem. You have to think before doing things like that. Do you understand me?"

"Yes. I'm sorry Mum," said Mia sincerely. Catherine sighed, then she stooped down and kissed Mia's forehead, giving her a smile.

"Now get yourself out of these wet clothes," Catherine ordered, taking Mia's jacket from her. "I made some nice hot soup for lunch."

"Great, thanks Mum," Mia said, then she quickly went up the staircase up to the second floor so she could get changed. As she walked by Brian's room, she saw the little boy walk out, his hair disheveled, his favorite teddy bear clutched in his arms, and yawning loudly as he rubbed his eyes. He opened his eyes and stared at Mia for a full ten seconds before speaking.

"Mia?"

"Yes Brian?"

"You fall in bath tub?"

….

"Hurry up guys! We're going to be late!"

"Calm down love, we'll get there in time," said Ben, chuckling at her excitement. Mia was practically bouncing on her feet as she waited for her parents and Brain to get ready so they could go to London. Today was the day everyone was meeting up in Diagon Alley to do their shopping, and Mia was beyond excited at this point. This was the first time all summer long that she has been able to see Ron and Hermione, and she couldn't wait! She had gotten up extra early that morning, quickly dressed herself in a skirt and short sleeved shirt, ran a brush through her hair, and shamelessly woke up everyone else. She kept on waiting by the front door, feeling restless and eager to jump in the van and get going. Ten minutes later, once everyone was all set, all the Thatchers were piled up into the van, and they were off to London. Mia was overcome with her enthusiasm, she could barely even contain it. They were able to make it to the city in less than a half hour, and after driving around for a while, Mia was finally able to point out the Leaky Cauldron out to her parents, and they were able to find a decent parking space not too far away. As they entered the grubby little pub, Mia saw that it was pretty busy today, filled to the brink with chatty wizards, weird looking hags, and even one man who looked suspiciously like a vampire lurking around in the corner, drinking what appeared to be red wine.

After asking Tom the landlord how to get into the alley, he led them into the back courtyard where he demonstrated how to open up the entrance with his wand. In the next few seconds, a beaming smile lit up Mia's face as she once again took in the magnificent sight of Diagon Alley. All the brightly colored shops, the interesting people and excited chatter reached her ears. She eagerly grabbed onto her father's hand and the little family started maneuvering their way through the bustling crowd, trying to find their way to Gringotts bank. Even though she had been there before, Mia's reaction was very much the same as last time. She stared around at everything in wonder, taking in all that she saw. Ben and Catherine were also taking everything in with curious eyes, and although Mia could tell they felt out of place, she knew they were happy to be having this experience with her. They didn't have McGonagall with them this time, so they had to learn to go through this process by themselves. As they continued to walk through the hassle of many witches and wizards, Mia suddenly heard a loud yell that made her heart leap in her chest.

"Mia!"

Mia whipped around and her smile grew into a grin as she spotted a familiar busy haired head running towards her from the steps of Gringotts.

"Hermione!" Mia yelled, darting forward and meeting her best girl friend in the middle of the steps. They wasted no time in throwing their arms around each other and squeezing as hard as they possibly could, both of them squealing happily and jumping up and down. Mia held her friend close, overjoyed that she was with her again. The two witches kept hugging each other for what felt like forever until they finally let go, each one smiling at the other.

"Oh Mia, I've missed you so much! It's so good to see you!" Hermione gushed.

"It's good to see you too Mione," said Mia, her grin never leaving her face. "I was so excited for today, I can't believe we're all getting together! Are Ron and Harry here yet?"

"No, I haven't seen them, but they should be here very soon," Hermione replied. "Hi Mr. and Mrs. Thatcher!"

"Hello Hermione," said Catherine as they approached, and then turning to Hermione's parents. "Hello Richard, Jean."

"Hello Catherine," said Jean with a smile. "It's very nice to see you again."

"It's nice to see you all again too," said Ben as he shook hands with Mr. Granger. "How have you been?"

"We've been very well," Mr. Granger replied with a nod. "Jean and I are interested in meeting the Weasleys, they seem like good folk. Our Hermione just couldn't wait to see her friends, it's all she has talked about the past couple of weeks."

"This one too," Ben added with a grin. "Can hardly get her to shut it."

"Hey!" Hermione and Mia both said in unison, placing their hands on their hips. Ben and Richard laughed at them while Jean was cooing over Brian, who seemed to be loving the attention. While their parents talked, Hermione and Mia caught up with what they were doing over the summer.

"I really have missed you Mione," said Mia.

"I missed you too Mia, but why haven't you been getting any of my letters?"

"I'm not sure, maybe Ron and Harry will tell us when they get here. So what have you been up to?"

"Not too much, doing all our summer work, obviously, and my parents told me that they're saving up so we can go to France next year!"

"France?" gasped Mia. "Hermione, you're so lucky!"

"Maybe I can ask my parents if you can go," Hermione suggested eagerly. "Do you think your parents would mind? It'll probably only be about a month or so."

"I'm sure they won't mind," answered Mia breathlessly. "Imagine—Paris! We could go the Louvre, see the Seine, and learn about other Wizarding cultures! Oh it would be so lovely!"

"It would," said Hermione. "What have you been doing this summer?"

"I spent two weeks with my family at the lake in our cottage," replied Mia. "And I ran into someone from school while we were there too."

"Really? Who?"

"His name's Alex, and he's in our year in Hufflepuff. He's really sweet, he gave me his address to write to him, and—_Harry!_"

Mia stared over Hermione shoulder and waved frantically at Harry, who was for some reason half covered in soot with his glasses broken, and making his way through the busy crowds with Hagrid by his side. Harry's face lit up at the sight of them and he immediately rushed forward. Hermione beamed, and then the two girls started running back down the steps, eager to greet their friend. When they finally reached him, Hermione engulfed Harry into a hug, a smile on her face.

"Hi Harry, hi Hagrid!" Hermione said gleefully.

"Hello ther Hermione, Mia," Hagrid greeted cheerfully. "How have yeh two been?"

"We've been great," Mia answered. "It's really good to see you!"

"Harry, what did you do to your glasses?" asked Hermione as she took in the state Harry was in.

"Floo Powder," Harry replied. "I feel out of the wrong gate, and Hagrid found me."

"The term hasn't even started yet and you're already causing trouble?" said Mia with a grin. Harry glared at her, but she merely laughed it off.

"Are you coming to Gringotts with us Harry?" Hermione asked.

"As soon as I've found the Weasleys," said Harry. "They must be worried about me."

"Yeh won't have ter wait," Hagrid said, pointing. The three of them all turned around to see a small group of redheads sprinting towards them, and Mia, smile grew even wilder as she caught sight of her favorite one up in front. Without a word, Mia dashed over to them and as soon as she was only three feet away, she threw herself at Ron, making him stumble backwards in surprise and give a loud "Oof!"

"Hi Ron!" she said happily, giving him an extra tight hug.

"Oh, er, hey Mia," Ron replied, his face going beat red as he awkwardly stood rooted to the spot, looking embarrassed.

"I've missed you so much!" Mia said as she released him. "You have no idea what it was like spending over four weeks with this ugly prat."

"Hey!" Harry exclaimed indignantly.

"Oh, we see how it is," said Fred in a fake huff. "We haven't seen you in over a month, and the first person you run to is ickle Ronnikins? Well, I guess George and I are just not worth your time are we?"

"That hurts Mia, that really hurts," George added dramatically, placing a hand over his heart and turning his face away. Mia simply rolled her eyes and reached up on her tippy toes to give them each a hug as well.

"Thanks for getting Harry out," she whispered. In return they gave her a grin and hugged her back before letting her go.

"We're glad you made it out all right Harry," Mr. Weasley said. "We _hoped _you'd only gone one grate too far. Molly's frantic—she's coming now with Ginny."

"Where did you come out?" Ron asked.

"Knockturn Alley," said Hagrid grimly.

"_Brilliant_!" said Fred and George together.

"We've never been allowed in," said Ron enviously.

"I should ruddy well hope not," growled Hagrid.

"What's Knockturn Alley?" asked Mia curiously.

"It's somewhere you better hope you never find yourself in," said Mr. Weasley gravely.

"It's full of shops that are related to the Dark Arts," said Hermione.

"How do you know?" said Ron.

"She knows everything Ron," answered Mia, smiling at Hermione fondly, causing said girl to go pink. Before anyone said anything else, they saw Mrs. Weasley running out of the crowd, her handbag swinging in one arms and a little redheaded girl clutching the other. That had to be Ron's little sister, Ginny.

"Oh, Harry—oh, my dear—you could have been anywhere—"

"I'm okay Mrs. Weasley," Harry assured her. Mrs. Weasley, trying to catch her breath, nodded and wrung Hagrid's hand, thanking him profusely for finding Harry and leading him to safety. After stating that he had to get going, Hagrid bid goodbye to everyone before striding off back down the street. It was then that Mrs. Weasley caught sight of Hermione and Mia.

"Hello dears," she said kindly to them. "It's very nice to see you both again, are you here with—oh, hello there Catherine!"

"Hello Molly," Catherine said as she came forward with Ben and the Grangers. "Thank you so much for meeting up with us today."

"It was no problem at all dear," said Mrs. Weasley. "We had to get everyone's school supplies at some point. Oh, why hello there Brian! Your son is even more adorable than the last time we saw him. My, and you must be Hermione's parents—"

"Guess who I saw in Borgin and Burkes?" Harry said to Mia, Ron and Hermione while the adults got acquainted. "Malfoy and his father."

"Did Lucius Malfoy buy anything?" said Mr. Weasley from behind them.

"No he was selling."

"So he's worried," said Mr. Weasley with grim satisfaction. "Oh, I'd love to get Lucius Malfoy for something ..."

"You be careful Arthur," said Mrs. Weasley. "That family's trouble, don't go biting off more than you can chew…"

"So you don't think am a match for Lucius Malfoy?" said Mr. Weasley, but he was distracted almost at once by Mia and Hermione's parents, who were listening with puzzled looks on their faces.

"Oh don't worry, really nothing to worry about. Come now, it's not every day you run into Muggles in Diagon Alley!" Mr. Weasley said enthusiastically. "We must have a drink! What's that you got there? Oh, you're changing your Muggle money. Molly look!"

Mia giggled at the sight of Mr. Weasley pointing to the money in Ben's hands, looking like a giddy young child who was told Christmas was coming early. This was her first time meeting Ron's father, and he seemed like a very nice and funny man. She remembered Ron telling her about his obsession with Muggles, and seeing it first hand was very amusing. Everyone then entered Gringotts together, and while Mrs. Weasley took Ron, his siblings and Harry down to get their money, Mia and Hermione stayed with their parents to exchange their Muggle money into Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts, along with an overexcited Mr. Weasley. While he was chatting with Mr. Granger and Ben, Brian was reaching out, trying to get a hold of Mr. Weasley's patched wizard's hat, and laughing when he succeeded.

"Your brother is so cute!" said Hermione.

"Yeah, when he's not being a little devil," said Mia. "He kept getting a hold of my wand over the summer, no matter where I hid it. Oh Hermione, you won't believe it! Brian's a wizard!"

"Really? That's amazing Mia! It's not too common that sibling wizards are born into a Muggle family. How do you know?"

Mia continued to explain how she and Harry had discovered Brian's magical powers while Mr. Weasley was gushing as Mrs. Granger explained the function of dishwashers.

"Fascinating!" he breathed in awe. "Muggle technology is simply outstanding! I've always had such a marvelous interest in them, even have a shed out back full of them. Molly thinks I'm bonkers but there's just so much you could learn…"

By the time they had all their money sorted out, Ron and Harry were back, and everyone spilt up to go their separate ways. Fred and George went off on their own somewhere, Percy said he needed to buy a new quill, Mrs. Weasley was going off to take Ginny to get her robes, and Mr. Weasley was offering to buy Ben, Catherine and the Grangers a drink at the Leaky cauldron. After giving her parents a hug and kiss, and agreeing to meet up later on in the bookshop, Mia set off with Ron, Harry and Hermione to wander around the alley and buy all their new school supplies. They stopped by _Quality Quidditch Supplies_, where Ron and Harry oogled over the different lines of racing brooms, and new weatherproof Quidditch Robes. Then they stopped by the Apothecary to pick up their potions ingredients for the new term, and they also looked in on a shop that held all kinds of general equipment, such as scales, telescopes, and all kinds of different things. Mia stared longingly at a pair of silver binoculars that were specifically made for star gazing. The lens were amplified to more than times than usual, so you could adjust them so it would seem as if the star was right in front of you, and maybe even see one of the planets. Once they left, Harry bought them all large strawberry and peanut-butter ice-creams from the ice cream parlor, which they slurped happily as they kept on walking through the alley. It soon came time to meet up with the others ta Flourish and Blotts, so they set out for the store to find that it was extremely busy and packed, much more than usual. There was a large crowd outside, all bustling to get in.

"What's going on?" asked Harry.

"Not sure," said Mia.

"Oh!" Hermione squealed suddenly. "Look!"

She was pointing at a banner in the shop window, reading, GILDEROY LOCKHART _will be signing copies of his autobiography,_ MAGICAL ME _today 12.30 – 4.30 pm. _

"We can actually meet him!" Hermione squealed again. "I mean, he's written almost the whole booklist!"

"I don't know, he sounds a bit full of himself to me," said Ron. The four of them managed to squeeze inside with some difficulty, and stuck close to one another so as not to be swallowed by the hoard of fans. A long queue wounded right to the back of the shop, where Gilderoy Lockhart was signing his books. They each grabbed a copy of _Break with a Banshee_, and sneaked up the line to where the rest of the Weasleys were standing with Mr. and Mrs. Granger, Ben and Catherine.

"Oh, there you are, good," said Mrs. Weasley, sounding breathless as she kept patting her hair. "We'll be able see him in a minute."

It was only a couple more minutes before Gilderoy Lockhart came slowly into view, and sat down at a table surrounded by large pictures of his own face, all winking and flashing dazzling white teeth to the crowd. Lockhart was wearing robes of forget-me-not blue which perfectly matched his eyes. His wavy blonde hair seemed to shine underneath his silver wizard's hat, and he flashed everyone a smile that was even brighter than the ones in his photographs. Mia wasn't too sure what to think of him. While he was indeed handsome, there was an ignorant smugness and egocentric look in his smile. She could tell he was thriving on all the attention he was getting, and it didn't impress her one bit. Lockhart continued to smile as a short, irritable-looking man was dancing around taking photographs with a large black camera that emitted puffs of purple smoke with every blinding flash.

"Out of the way, there," he snarled at Ron, moving back to get a better shot. "This is for the Daily Prophet."

"Big deal," said Ron. Gilderoy Lockhart must have heard him, because he suddenly picked his head up, looked at Ron, and then moved his gaze over to Harry. Lockhart's eye widened upon seeing him, and in the next moment, he quickly leapt to his feet, beaming, and exclaimed, "It _can't_ be Harry Potter?"

Mia felt Harry stiffen next to her as the crowd parted, and before she knew it, Lockhart had reached out, grabbed Harry by his arm, and pulled him up front to stand beside him, and wrapped his arm around Harry's shoulder to make sure he didn't go anywhere. The crowd started clapping and Mia couldn't help but feel sorry for Harry as she watched his face turn a brilliant shade of red and start to try and wiggle out of Lockhart's grasp. Lockhart seemed completely oblivious to Harry's discomfort as he shook his hand for the photographer.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Lockhart said loudly, waving for quiet. "What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time! When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to come to buy my autobiography—which I shall be happy to present him free of charge—he had no idea, that he would be shortly getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have the great pleasure in announcing that, this September, I will be taking up the post Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

The crowd cheered and clapped again as Harry found himself being presented with the entire works of Gilderoy Lockhart. Staggering slightly under the weight, he managed to move away from Lockhart and the surrounding crowds, going over to Ginny, who was standing at the edge of the room.

"Lockhart's going to be our new professor!" Hermione said with an excited gleam in her eyes. "Can you believe it Mia?"

"Am I supposed to be happy about this?"

"Of course you are!" said Hermione, looking scandalized. "He a wonderful and brave man, we are lucky to have such an experienced wizard teaching us Defense!"

"Calm down there Mione," Mia giggled, rolling her eyes. "You'll have plenty of time to swoon over him later. Come on, let's go back over to Harry and Ron."

The two of them went over to where Harry had gone, and Mia's smile instantly turned into a frown, and her eyes narrowed as she internally groaned. Standing in front of Harry, Ron, and Ginny, was none other than Draco Malfoy. Malfoy was an arrogant, snotty, mean, and horrible boy who has been the bane of their existence since they met him on the Hogwarts Express last year. He was a Slytherin, and he made it his personal goal to annoy Mia and her friends as much as possible. As she and Hermione moved closer, she caught on to what Malfoy was saying.

"…surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley," said Malfoy. "I suppose your parents will have to go hungry for a month to pay for that lot."

Ron's face twisted into one of rage, and he dropped his books into his cauldron, and started towards Malfoy, but Harry and Hermione quickly grabbed the back of his jacket.

"Ron don't, he's not worth it—"

"Now now Draco, Play nicely"

Mia looked up to see a man coming towards them, placing a hand on Malfoy's shoulder. He had pale blonde hair that fell past his shoulders, was dressed in expensive black robes with silver fastenings, and had the same steel grey eyes as Draco. This must be his father, Mr. Malfoy. He stood next to Draco, sneering down at them.

"Mr. Potter," he breathed at Harry. "Forgive me."

Before Harry could protest Mr. Malfoy pulled him forward pushing up his fringe to show his scar to the fullest possible.

"Your scar is legend," he said softly. "As of course the wizard who gave it to you."

Mia glared at Mr. Malfoy while Harry yanked himself away from him.

"Voldemort killed my parents," he said coldly. "He was nothing more than a murderer."

"Very brave saying the name," sneered Mr. Malfoy, "Or very foolish."

"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself," said Mia. "Refusing to speak his name only gives him more power."

"And you must be…Miss Thatcher?" said Mr. Malfoy, grinding out her name like it was a foul taste on his tongue. "Yes, Draco's told me all about you, along with Miss Granger. Your parents…they're Muggles, aren't they?"

Mia felt her cheeks start to burn in anger, and her hands balled into fists at her side. However, before she could say anything, they were interrupted by Mr. Weasley coming along towards them, with Fred and George at his heels. Behind them were Mr. and Mrs. Granger, Ben, and Catherine, who was holding Brian in her arms as he happily sucked away at a lollipop in the shape of a pumpkin.

"Children!" said Mr. Weasley. "What are you doing? It's mad in here, let's go outside."

"Well, well, well Arthur Weasley." said Mr. Malfoy.

"Lucius," said Mr. Weasley coldly, his eyes narrowed.

"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," said Mr. Malfoy. "All those raids...I hope they pay you enough overtime?"

He reached out into Ginny's cauldron and extracted, from amidst the glossy Lockhart books, a very old, very battered copy of A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration.

"Obviously not," he said. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgraces to the name of Wizards if they don't even pay you for it?"

Mr. Weasley's face turned a dangerous shade of red as his expression shifted into one of anger.

"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard Malfoy," he said.

"Clearly," said Mr. Malfoy, his pale eyes straying to the Grangers and Thatchers. "The company you keep, Weasley...and I thought your family could sink no lower—"

Before anyone could even blink, Mr. Weasley lunged himself at Mr. Malfoy, sending Ginny's cauldron high into the air. The two wizards crashed into a nearby book shelf, and everyone back away as they started a full out brawl in the middle of the shop. Mia pulled Ginny out of the way as more books came tumbling down and people were shouting in confusion. There was a yell of "Get him, Dad!" from Fred while Mrs. Weasley was shrieking, "No, Arthur, no!" The crowd stamped further backwards, knocking more shelves over. Ben stepped forward and tried to pull Mr. Weasley away before things could get worse.

"Gentlemen, please—please!" cried the assistant and then, louder than all, "Break it up, there, gents, break it up—"

Hagrid was wading towards them through the sea of books. In an instant he had pulled Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy apart. Mr. Weasley had a cut lip and Mr. Malfoy had been hit in the eye by an Encyclopedia of Toadstools. His eyes flared in anger as he ripped his arm out of Ben's grip.

"Get your hands off me you filthy Muggle!" he snapped, before turning to Ginny and thrusting it at her, his eyes glittering malice. Mia couldn't help but notice that Mr. Malfoy had readjusted the book slightly before he handed it back, and, unless she was imagining it, it looked a little bit thicker.

"Here, girl—take your book—it's the best your father can give you," he snarled. Pulling himself up and straightening out his robes, Mr. Malfoy beckoned Draco and swept from the shop, yet not before Brian swung his arm back, and threw his lollipop in the air, and shrieked with glee as it landed in Mr. Malfoy's hair without his notice. Mia, Harry, Ron, the twins and even Ben had to suppress their snorts with difficulty as the Malfoy's left, and Catherine nudged Ben in the ribs after he chuckled, "That's my boy."

"Are you okay Ginny?" Mia asked after she had stopped laughing. The redheaded girl gave a tiny nod, her cheeks a little red. While she bent down to help Ginny pick up the books that had fallen out of her cauldron, Hagrid helped Mr. Weasley straighten out his own robes.

"Yeh should've ignored him, Arthur," said Hagrid. "Rotten ter the core, the whole family, everyone knows that. No Malfoy's worth listen' ter. Bad blood, that's what it is. Come on now—let's get out of here."

They didn't need telling twice. In the next moment everyone was outside, and walking back up the alley towards the Leaky Cauldron. Mia stuck by her parents while her mother looked her over, asking if she was all right. She assured them that she was fine while Mrs. Weasley was beside herself with fury.

"A fine example to set to your children," she said. "Brawling in public...what Gilderoy Lockhart must've thought..."

"He was pleased," said Fred. "Didn't you hear him as we were leaving? He was asking the bloke from the Daily Prophet if he'd be able to work the fight into his report—said it was all publicity."

Everyone made their way to the Leaky Cauldron where it was time for them to part ways. Mr. Weasley, who was now calm and his face was its normal color, apologized both to the Grangers and the Thatchers for his behavior.

"It was terribly inappropriate," he said. "I'm very sorry to have involved you in that Mr. Thatcher."

"No worries Arthur," said Ben. "I haven't been around wizards for very long, but I know men like that, so it's no harm done."

"Molly, would you and Arthur like to join us for some lunch sometime?" asked Catherine. "I'm sure it must be a little boring with all of the children at school now. And how about you, Jean? You and Richard can join us as well."

"We'd love to," said Jean with a smile.

"Really?" said Mr. Weasley, his cheerful expression back on his face. "Would you be able to show us your televistons? How do they—"

"Not now Arthur," sighed Mrs. Weasley. "We need to get back home."

"Oh yes, of course. Well, it was an absolute pleasure meeting all of you," Mr. Weasley said, shaking the Grangers and Thatchers hands. "We must set up that lunch schedule as soon as possible."

While the adults said goodbye, Mia turned to her friends. She gave Harry a tight hug, which he returned.

"I guess I'll see you all on the train?" she said.

"Of course," said Harry with a smile. "Think you can survive without me?"

"I'll just have to bear it," Mia sighed sadly, making Ron and Hermione laugh. After Mia gave everyone a hug (and a little twirl off the ground from both Fred and George), Mia grabbed all her bags, took her father's hand, and waved goodbye as they left the pub to head back out into the Muggle world, while Brian was cheering loudly, "I put lolli in ugly girl's hair!"

**Rate and review please!**


	4. The Journey Home

**Hey there guys. I know I am WAY past when I said I was going to get this chapter up, and I'm really, really sorry for that. It's been a very emotional and stressful past couple of weeks, and I haven't really had any inspiration to write. Things have been kind of hard lately, and I'll try to do a better job from now on. **

**Here's chapter four, and I hope you guys find it enjoyable. I'm sorry for any typos you might find, it's getting late, and I'm very tired, but I wanted to finish this chapter tonight, because I didn't want to make you guys wait any longer than I already have. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated, along with any comments, improvements, or questions you may have for me. Thanks for putting up with me guys, I'm sorry I'm being such a pain in the butt. Enjoy!**

Chapter Four: The Journey Home

MPOV

"Mia! Mia, are you ready?"

"Yes Dad, I'll be down in just a minute!" Mia called out her open door before throwing the last of her books into her trunk and closing it with a snap. Once she was positive she had everything packed up, Mia grabbed her little side purse, strung it across her body, and then she heaved her trunk off of her bed, and started dragging it out of her room. She grunted as she pulled it down the hallway and clamored down the stairs with it. When she reached the bottom, she steered herself into the living room, where Ben was putting on his suit for work, with a piece of toast in his mouth, and Catherine was bending over a grumpy and sick Brian, who was laying down on the loveseat, tucked under the blankets and trying his hardest to fight off his mother, who was attempting to put a thermometer in his mouth. Mia couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He had a fever and earlier this morning he came into her room because he had gotten sick. The poor toddler had since been under Catherine's watchful eye, taking spoonfuls of medicine and hot soup. With Brian so sick, Catherine had to stay in order to take care of him, and so Mia would be riding to London with Ben as he went to an early meeting at work. When Ben had his suit on on, he grabbed his car keys from the mantelpiece and bent down to give both Catherine and Brian a hug and kiss.

"I'll see you tonight love," he said, gently stroking Catherine's cheek before turning to Brian. "Hey there champ. You do what Mummy says and try to get better, okay?"

"Daddy stay," Brian said, and then frowned as Catherine took that to her advantage and stuffed the thermometer in his mouth.

"Sorry, son, Daddy has to work," said Ben, ruffling Brian's hair. Brian pouted and then turned his head to see Mia. He immediately perked up and reached his arms out to her, calling her name. Mia smiled as she went over to her brother, dropping down beside him and letting him hug her.

"Hey buddy," she said. "How are you feeling?"

"Mia, tummy hurts," said Brian.

"I know Bry," Mia said gently. "I'm sorry I won't be home to help you get better."

"Mia go?" said Brian, his eyes going wide. When Mia nodded, Brian started to shake his head, and he clung to her tighter.

"Mia no go," he mumbled into her shirt. "Mia and Daddy stay."

"I'm sorry Brian," Mia murmured as she hugged him back and kissed his head. "Don't worry, I'll be home soon."

"Mia stay," Brian repeated, looking at her with watery eyes. "Pwease?"

"I'll be home soon Brian, I promise. I love you."

Brian's lip started trembling and he sniffed, holding her even closer. Mia felt a tug at her heart and all she wanted was to stay at home and help make Brian get better. He was always so bubbly and full of endless energy, it made her sad to see him so down, and so sick. Kissing his head one last time, Mia managed to break Brian's grip on her and stood up from the floor, going over to Catherine.

"Bye Mum," said Mia as she hugged her as well. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too Mia," Catherine said softly, kissing her cheek. "You be good, okay? And write to us when you get there."

"I will," said Mia. After another squeeze, Mia and Catherine released each other, and then Catherine caught Brian's attention by turning on some morning cartoons for him to watch as Mia grabbed her trunk and Sapphire's carrier, and then followed Ben through the hall and out the front door. They quickly put the trunk in the back of his car, and Mia quickly joined him up front in the passenger seat. In no time at all, they were driving off down the road, making their way to the city.

"Are you excited to be going back to school princess?" Ben asked as he drove.

"Mhmm," Mia answered. "I can't wait to see everyone again! And I can't wait to start our new classes, we're going to be doing even more practical magic! Professor McGonagall even said we'll have a chance to turn animals into water goblets!"

"It sounds great," said Ben with a smile. "I'm really going to miss you. This summer went by way too fast."

"It did at some points," Mia agreed. "I'm going to miss you guys a lot too, but at least I'll be home for Christmas."

"And don't forget to ask Harry if he wants to come over again," Ben reminded her. "He's always welcome with us."

"Thanks Dad," said Mia with a bright smile. They continued driving for a while until they finally entered the city and slowly dragged on through the morning traffic. Sapphire was starting to grow impatient, and meowed loudly, moving her paws between the bars of the carrier door. Assuring her pet that they would be there soon, Mia stuck her finger inside and scratched Sapphire behind her ears, making her purr. Eventually, they made it to the station with about an hour to spare, and Ben parked the car right outside the entrance. He pulled the trunk out of the back while Mia went to fetch a trolley, and as soon as her trunk and Sapphire's carrier were loaded on, Mia and Ben walked through the front doors and set off for Platforms Nine and Ten. The station was fairly busy, with a lot of Muggles catching the morning trains on their way to work. Mia kept up with her father's long strides as they walked, and once they reached their platform, he kept close to her side until they had reached the brick barrier that would take her to Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Ben bent down so he was at Mia's level and smiled at her, taking her face into his hands and kissing her forehead tenderly.

"I'm sorry I have to rush off like this princess," he said. "And I'm sorry your mother and I couldn't see you off."

"It's okay Dad," said Mia.

"I love you so very, very, much," said Ben. "Have a good term, all right?"

"Okay," said Mia. With one last kiss from her father, Mia pulled her trolley in front of the barrier, and, after checking to make sure no one was watching, she started to casually walk forward towards the wall, and she closed her eyes just before going through. When she opened them again, she grinned as she found herself looking at the familiar sight of the scarlet engine, steam emerging from its top, and looking just as magnificent as the last time she saw it. Glancing around, Mia saw that she was one of the very few people on the platform, and she wasn't surprised. It was way too early for passengers to start showing up, and she was sure her friends wouldn't be here for a long while. Sighing to herself, Mia was about to go and find a compartment, when a sudden thought came to her. There was a young girl standing up by the front of the train with an elderly woman who must have been her grandmother, the both of them talking happily while they were staring up at the train. Mia stared at them for a moment before she reached down and undid the clasps of her trunk. Digging around inside, she was finally able to pull out her sketchpad and a pencil. After closing it, she sat down in the top, turned over to a fresh page, and started to draw.

For the next half hour or so, Mia sat on her trunk and drew the train along with the girl and her grandmother, looking up every now and then to make sure she was doing everything perfectly. Everything around her grew quiet as her sole focus was on her drawing, and her eyes never left the paper unless she looked up to have a glance at her subjects. As she worked, she hardly even noticed that as time went by, more and more people were coming through the barrier, and the platform was slowly started to fill up with students and parents. After a few more minutes, Mia had the majority of the picture done. There was the front of the train, steam billowing around the ground of the platform, obscuring the rest of the Hogwarts Express , and there was the girl and the woman, standing at an angle, their half hidden faces gazing up at the train. Mia stuck her tongue between her teeth as she kept going, and she was so engrossed in her work, she didn't hear her name being called until the voice was right next to her.

_"Mia!" _

Mia jumped and nearly fell off her trunk as she dropped her pencil and paper. She stared around wildly until she found that Jenna Sterling, her friend from Hufflepuff, was standing next to her, her eyes wide and her cheeks a little pink. She was wearing a white skirt with a blue checkered shirt, and her traveling cloak was draped around her shoulders. Jenna was a real sweetheart, she was the first person Mia had made friends with in the Wizarding World. She was extremely shy and a little self-conscious of herself because of her weight, but once you got to know her, anyone could see how sweet, caring and generous she was.

"Oh, I'm sorry Mia," said Jenna quickly. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Oh, it's okay Jenna, I didn't realize you were calling me," said Mia. After getting over her shock, Mia got up from the trunk and instantly pulled Jenna into a hug. Jenna hugged her back, seeming relieved that Mia wasn't mad at her.

"How are you?" asked Mia as they released each other.

"I've been good," Jenna replied. "Mia, how come you haven't answered any of my letters? I've written to you a few times, but I never got an answer."

"I'm sorry Jenna," said Mia. "I haven't gotten any letters from anyone for a long time, something was stopping them."

"What do you mean?" asked Jenna.

"It's a long story," said Mia, waving it off. She knew the real reason, of course, Harry had told her while they were all at Diagon Alley, but she knew that Jenna probably wouldn't believe her. Besides, Mia didn't know why, but she felt that this was something only her, Harry, Ron and Hermione had to know. After all, she was sure having a house elf appear in your bedroom and ruining a colossal pudding just to make sure you didn't go back to school wasn't a common occurrence. Wanting to change the subject, Mia asked Jenna if she wanted to find a compartment together, and the Hufflepuff happily agreed. After picking up her sketchpad and stuffing it back inside her trunk, Mia gathered her things, and the two girls went to board the train. Once they heaved all of their things on board, they began walking down the aisle, hoping to find somewhere to sit. They soon found a compartment near the end of the train, and they pushed their trunks onto the racks overhead before flopping down on the seats. However, it wasn't too long before their compartment door slid open, and Mia smiled as she saw Hermione come in.

"Hi Mia," Hermione greeted with a smile. "Hi Jenna."

"Hello Hermione," said Jenna with a smile of her own. "Did you just get here?"

"Yeah, my parents dropped me off, and I've been looking all over the train for you," Hermione answered as she closed the door behind her. "Have you seen Ron or Harry yet?"

"No," Mia replied, shaking her head. "I thought they would come along the same time as you."

"Well, I haven't seen them anywhere on the train, or any of the Weasley's either," said Hermione, starting to look worried. "I hope they get here soon, the train is leaving in fifteen minutes."

"I'm sure they'll make it on time," Mia said comfortingly. "Come on Mione, take a seat."

When Hermione got everything settled, she sat down next to Mia and the three girls quickly got to talking. Jenna told them all about her summer vacation in Wales visiting relatives, and how her older brother Derrick got into trouble for filling their cousin's birthday party lanterns with dung and pumpkin juice, and making them explode. Hermione told them about the shopping trip she went on with her mother in London, and some of the cute boys she had met yet.

"You're already looking at boys Hermione?" said Mia.

"Well, I am thirteen," Hermione said with a small blush. "Besides, I'm sure you two must have taken a liking to someone."

"Not really," said Mia, looking as though she had swallowed a handful of sour candies. "Why would I want to start liking boys?"

"You're telling me there isn't one boy you think is cute?" asked Hermione.

"Nope," Mia answered truthfully. "I haven't really thought about that yet. No one has caught my eye, and I'm not rushing into it."

"But what about Harry?" Jenna piped up. "I always thought you guys would…"

"What?" Mia gaped. "Me and Harry? Of course not! He's my best friend, we're not—I mean we don't—"

"Relax Mia, we know you two are not together," Hermione giggled, but Mia saw a certain gleam in her friend's eyes that she didn't like. Before she could point it out, Hermione turned to Jenna.

"How about you Jenna? Do you like anybody?"

In half a second, Jenna's face changed into a rosy pink and she avoided their eyes as she played with a strand of her hair.

"You do!" said Mia with a grin. "Who is it?"

"No one you guys know," Jenna said a little too quickly.

"Come on Jenna," said Hermione. "We promise we won't tell."

"You guys will laugh at me," Jenna mumbled.

"No we won't," said Mia. "Honest."

Jenna looked at them for a minute before bringing her eyes to the floor. She mumbled something under her breath, and her face turned even brighter.

"What was that?" asked Hermione.

"Fred Weasley. Ron's brother."

"You like Fr—"Mia started loudly, but Hermione slapped her hand to her mouth just in time.

"Keep it down Mia!" Hermione hissed as Jenna, if possible, went even darker.

"Sorry Jenna," said Mia as she pushed Hermione's hand away. "I was just surprised, that's all, but in a good way. You picked a good one, Fred's a great guy. He's funny, smart, even though he doesn't show it much, is an excellent Quidditch player, very sweet, creative—"

"And would have absolutely no interest in someone like me," Jenna finished, her blush going away instantly as her face turned sad.

"What do you mean Jenna?" asked Hermione. "You're very, very pretty! Why do you think he wouldn't like you?"

"I'm not pretty Hermione," Jenna said. "I'm ugly, fat, and nowhere near as wonderful as Fred is. He doesn't want to be with a nobody."

"You're not a nobody," Mia stated firmly. "You're our friend and an amazingly kind person. Any boy would have to be completely stupid to see otherwise."

Jenna gave a small smile, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Mia sighed softly. Jenna was such a wonderful girl, she just needed more confidence in herself, much like Neville Longbottom did. The two of them could do anything they set their minds to if they had more confidence in themselves. Just as Mia was going to tell Jenna this, the train suddenly started to move, and the platform began to slowly crawl by the window. Hermione gave a squeak of surprise.

"Oh no! You guys didn't see the boys come onto the platform did you? What if they missed the train?"

"Don't worry Mione," said Mia. "They have to be here somewhere."

The girls were interrupted by a soft knock on the compartment door, and in the next second it opened to reveal little Ginny Weasley, wearing a shy blush. She looked around nervously and then stopped to stare at Mia.

"Hi," she whispered.

"Hi Ginny," said Mia. "We were just wondering whether you guys made it."

"We were running late," Ginny mumbled. "Um, would…would it be okay if I sit with you guys? I don't really know anyone else…"

"Of course you can," said Hermione. "Come in and sit. Is your brother here?"

"Ron was supposed to come through the barrier with Harry after me, my mom and dad," said Ginny as she came inside and sat down next to Hermione. "When we got my stuff on board, we didn't see them when we turned around, so I just thought they were on board already. You haven't seen them?"

"Not yet," Mia answered. "But I'm sure they'll be around. Where else could they be?"

HPOV 

"RON! RON, MIND THAT TREE!"

Out of all the things that could have possibly happened, Harry was sure this had to be one of the worst. As of this moment, he and Ron were in Mr. Weasley's flying car, plummeting straight towards Hogwarts grounds at high speed with nothing to break their fall except a towering Willow tree that was growing closer and closer with every passing second. When they had driven the car from London to ride it to Hogwarts, this was not the entrance that either of them had been expecting. The car, having not being used to traveling such a long distance, had given out just as they reached the castle, and now there was nothing they could do to stop their fall. Harry lunged forward to try to make Ron steer the car out of the tree's path, but it was no use. In the next moment, both boys were jerked forward in their seats as the car went crashing into the trunk of the tree and then plummeted to the ground, rocking slightly until becoming completely still and quiet. Harry and Ron seemed too frozen to speak for a moment as they took in the damage to the car. The hood was dented, as were both of their doors, steam was coming out of the engine, and the backseat windows were cracked. Hedwig was flapping about in her cage, shrieking in terror, and Scabbers the rat was squeaking madly from within his own cage. The silence lasted for about a minute before Harry swallowed the lump in his throat and turned to Ron.

"Are you Ok?" Harry asked.

"My wand," said Ron in a shaky voice. "Look at my wand."

Harry looked over to see that Ron's wand had snapped, almost in two, with the tip dangling limply, held on by a few splinters.

"Be thankful it wasn't your neck." Harry said. "I'm sure we'll be able to—"

Harry was cut off from his sentence, because at that moment, something hit his side of the car with a force of a charging bull, sending him lurching sideways into Ron just as an equally heavy blow hit the roof.

"What the bloody hell—" Ron screamed before he was also thrown sideways as something hit his side. Then a long branch came out of nowhere and smashed right through the front window, nearly scraping Harry's shoulder. He was stunned to realize that the tree they had hit was attacking them. Its trunk was bent almost double, and its gnarled boughs were pummeling every inch of the car it could reach. Neither boy could move before another forceful thud came from the tree, knocking them into each other.

"Aaargh!" said Ron, as another twisted limb punched a large dent into his door. The windscreen was now trembling under a hail of blows from knuckle-like twigs and a branch as thick as a battering ram was pounding furiously at the roof, which seemed to be caving in.

"What are we going to do? We're done for!" Ron moaned. No sooner had the words left his mouth than when the car made a rumbling noise and the engine once again sprang to life.

_"Reverse!"_ Harry yelled, and the car shot backwards on command, its tires leaving deep mud tracks into the ground as it went. They put as much distance between them and the tree as possible, and it was only once they were safely out of reach that the car came to a halt. Harry's heart was thumping wildly inside his chest, and his placed his head against the back of his seat, breathing deeply. That was close, too close for comfort.

"That was close," said Ron, voicing Harry's thoughts. "Well done, car."

The car, however, seemed to have had enough of that night's activities. Before either of them could say anything, Harry and Ron's door suddenly burst open and they found themselves being flung out of the car and onto the damp grass outside. The back trunk popped open and all of their luggage flew out and scattered about, and Harry got up just in time to catch Hedwig, who had been thrown out of the car as well, and was screeching shrilly. Then, dented, scratched and steaming, the car turned around and rode off into the darkness, its rear light blazing angrily.

"Come back!" Ron yelled after it, brandishing his broken wand. "Dad'll kill me!"

But they could do nothing as the car car disappeared from view with one last snort from it exhaust, rolling across the grounds and heading towards the Forbidden Forest by Hagrid's hut in the distance.

"Can you believe our luck?" said Ron, bending down to pick up Scabbers and make sure he was all right. "Of all the trees we could hit, we had to get the one that hits back."

"Come on," said Harry wearily as he started to pick up his things from the ground. "We'd better get up to the school..."

"Hermione and Mia are just going to _love _this," Ron grumbled as he started collecting his own things. "They'll never let us hear the end of it."

"It wasn't really our fault though," said Harry. "We couldn't get onto Platform Nine and Three-Quarters—how else were we going to get here?"

"But they won't see it that way. _'What were you two thinking, driving an illegal car to Hogwarts when you know perfectly well it's against the rules,'_" said Ron, trying to imitate Hermione's voice.

"Maybe they won't find out about it," Harry put in half-heartedly.

"Yeah right—this is Hermione and Mia we're talking about mate, they know _everything._ You're lucky, all you have to do is give Mia the puppy dog face and she'll forgive you—but Hermione will be nagging us all the way into next term."

It took a couple minutes, but they finally managed to gather all of their things, and then the two boys started walking up towards the front oak doors of the castle. When they reached it, Ron dropped his trunk at the top of the stairs, and then walked over to look into a nearby window.

"I think the feast's already started," said Ron. "Hey, Harry, come and look—it's the Sorting! I can see Hermione and Mia too."

Harry hurried over and, together, he and Ron peered in at the Great Hall. He couldn't help but smile as he saw the familiar sight of the many hundreds of candles that were floating in midair above all the students and teachers sitting at their tables. Overhead, the bewitched ceiling which mirrored the sky outside, sparkled with stars, and through the forest of pointed black Hogwarts hats, Harry saw a long line of scared-looking first-years filing into the Hall. He nudged Ron in the side and pointed Ginny out to him, her vivid Weasley hair making her easy to spot. They watched as Ginny walked into the hall along with the other first years, and as she passed by the Gryffindor table, Harry saw Ginny look over to Mia and Hermione, who were wearing their school robes and giving Ginny encouraging smiles. As they reached the front of the hall and turned to face the rest of the students, Professor McGonagall, a bespectacled witch with her hair in a tight bun, was placing the famous Hogwarts Sorting Hat on a stool before the newcomers.

Every year, this aged old hat, patched, frayed and dirty, sorted new students into the four Hogwarts houses. Harry well remembered putting it on, exactly a year ago, and waiting, petrified, for its decision as it muttered aloud in his ear. For a few horrible seconds he had feared that the hat was going to put him in Slytherin, the house which turned out more dark witches and wizards than any other—but he ended up in Gryffindor, along with Ron, Hermione, and Mia, and he remembered the overwhelming joy he felt at being in the same house as all of his friends and the rest of the Weasleys. It was a wonderful feeling, but he still couldn't forget about how close he had been to being in Slytherin.

Harry and Ron watched for a few minutes as some first years were called to sit on the stool and be sorted. A very small, mousey-haired boy had been called forward to place the hat on his head. Harry's eyes wandered past him to the teacher's table, where all the Professors and Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, sat and watched the sorting. A small smile came across Harry's face at seeing his headmaster, but then the smile faded as he saw that not everyone was present at the feast.

"Hang on," Harry muttered to Ron. "There's an empty chair at the staff table...Where's Snape?"

Professor Snape, or the "Dungeon Bat" as Mia liked to call him, was Harry's least favorite teacher. Harry also happened to be Snape's least favorite student, for some reason. It has been said that Snape and Harry's dad, James, had hated each other when they were at school, and Snape seems to be extracting all of his frustration and revenge on Harry for his father's past doings.

"Maybe he's ill!" said Ron hopefully.

"Maybe he's _left_," said Harry. "Because he missed out on the Defense Against the Dark Arts job again!"

"Or be might have been sacked!" said Ron enthusiastically. "I mean everybody hates him—"

"Or maybe," said a very cold voice right behind them, "he's waiting to hear why you two didn't arrive on the school train."

Harry's insides turned numb and he slowly turned around. There, in his black robes ripping the cold breeze, stood Severus Snape. He was a thin man with sallow skin, a hooked nose and greasy, shoulder-length black hair, and at this moment, he was smiling in a way that told Harry he and Ron were in very deep trouble.

_Well, this night just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?_

"Follow me," Snape said, using a tone that stated all too clearly that he was leaving no room for argument or discussion. He turned around and started walking inside the castle. Knowing better than to refuse, Harry and Ron glumly trailed after the Potion's Master through the front door and into the entrance hall. Neither of them dared to whisper a single word as Snape led them down into the cold corridors of the dungeons. They kept on walking in silence until Snape took them to a door that was halfway down the passageway.

"In!" he said, opening the door and pointing. Both boys rushed inside, and Harry realized they must be in Snape's office. The shadowy walls were lined with shelves of large glass jars, which floated all manner of revolting looking things Harry didn't really didn't want to know the name of at the moment. As soon as they were inside, Snape closed the door and turned to look at them, a malicious sort of glee in his dark black eyes.

"So," he said softly. "The train isn't good enough for the famous Harry Potter or his faithful sidekick Weasley. Wanted to arrive with a bang, did we?"

"No, sir, it was the barrier at King's Cross, it—"

"Silence!" snapped Snape coldly. "What have you done with the car?"

Before Harry could even wonder how Snape found out about the car, he walked around them, opened up one of the drawers in his desk, and took out today's issue of the Evening Prophet, slamming it onto the top of the desk so they could see it.

"You were seen," he hissed, showing them the headline: **FLYING FORD ANGLIA MYSTIFIES MUGGLES**. He began to read out loud.

"_'Two Muggles in London convinced they saw an old car flying over the post office tower ... at noon in Norfolk, Mrs. Hetty Bayliss, while hanging out her washing...Mr. Angus Fleet, of Peebles, reported to the police'_...six or seven Muggles in all. I believe your father works in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, Weasley? Dear, dear ... his own son. I noticed, in my search of the park, that a considerable amount of damage had been done to a very valuable Whomping Willow."

"That tree did more damage to us than we—" Ron blurted out.

"Silence!" snapped Snape again. "Most unfortunately, you are not in my house and the decision to expel you does not rest with me. I shall go fetch the people who do have the happy power. You will wait here."

As Snape left the office, Harry and Ron stared at each other, white-faced. If Snape had gone to fetch Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor House, they were hardly any better off. She might be fairer than Snape, but she was still extremely strict.

Of course, only ten minutes later, Snape returned with not only McGonagall, but also Professor Dumbledore. One look at the Headmaster's disappointed face made Harry wish he was still being beaten to a pulp by the Whomping Willow. When they were asked why they had taken the car, Harry kept his gaze to his knees as he heard Ron explain about everything that had happened. He didn't want to look up to see McGonagall's furious expression, Dumbledore's grave frown, or Snape's smug smirk. In truth, he felt horrible, not only for acting so stupid, but also for endangering Mr. Wealsey's job. After everything they had done for him over the summer, this is how he repays them? The more Harry thought about it, the more terrible he felt. As Ron finished explaining, there was a moment of silence, and Harry was waiting with baited breath for what their punishment would be.

"I understand that you two were in a particularly tight spot," Dumbledore said slowly after a while. "But you both should have waited for some assistance or contacted the school of your predicament instead of behaving so foolishly and rashly. Your actions could have had severe consequences, I hope you understand that."

Harry just nodded his head as Ron said, "We'll go and get our stuff."

"What are you talking about, Weasley?" barked Professor McGonagall.

"Well, you're expelling us, aren't you?" said Ron.

"Not today, Mr. Weasley," said Dumbledore. "But I must impress upon both of you the seriousness of what you have done. I will be writing to both your families tonight. I must also warn you that if you do anything like this again, I will have no choice but to expel you."

Harry's heart leapt in his chest and a quiet, relieved sigh escaped his lips. Snape, however, lost his smug expression immediately and a sour look came across his face.

"Professor Dumbledore," he said. "These children have flouted the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry, caused serious damage to an old and valuable tree—surely acts of this nature—"

"It will be for Professor McGonagall to decide on these children's punishments, Severus," said Dumbledore calmly. "They are in her House and are therefore her responsibility. I must go back to the feast now, Minerva, I've got to give out a few notices. Come, Severus, there's a delicious-looking custard tart I want to sample."

Dumbledore reached into his pocket and pulled out what appeared to be some sort of sweet candy, and popped it into his mouth as he strolled out of the room. Snape shot a look of pure venom at Harry and Ron as he allowed himself to be swept out of his office, leaving them alone with Professor McGonagall. She waved her wand and pointed it at Snape's desk. A large plate of sandwiches, two silver goblets, and a jug of iced pumpkin juice appeared with a pop. She told them that they would be eating their dinner in the office while she went back up to the feast. After informing them that they would be receiving detentions and that Ron's sister Ginny was sorted into Gryffindor, Professor McGonagall left them alone in the room, closing the door sharply behind her, but not before Harry faintly heard her mutter, "I swear, that boy is just like his father…"

Harry and Ron turned to look at each other.

"Well," Ron said awkwardly. "Care for some Pumpkin Juice?"

It didn't take them very long to eat, as they were both so hungry that they gobbled down the sandwiches and nearly chugged their drinks. While they ate, they talked about what could have possibly stopped them from getting onto the platform back at King's Cross, and how lucky they were that they were only getting detentions. Ron was dreading the letter that was going to be sent to his home and was still upset at losing the car. Once they had eaten until their stomachs were nice and full, Harry and Ron left the office and quickly made their way out of the dungeons. They hastily walked up the marble staircase all the way up to the upper floors, and it was a little while until they finally reached the corridor that led to the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, which was concealed behind a portrait of a fat lady in a pink silk dress, sipping from a glass in her hand.

"Password?" she said as they approached.

"Er—" said Harry, suddenly realizing that neither he nor Ron knew the password into the tower. However, they didn't have time to worry, for at that moment, he heard two very familiar voices call out their names. Harry turned around and couldn't help but smile as he saw both Mia and Hermione running down the corridor towards them, their expressions one of happiness and concern. When the girls reached them, Mia wasted no time in pulling both boys into a bone crushing hug, having to stand on her tip toes.

"Where on earth have you two been?!" Mia demanded as soon as she let go, looking somewhat frantic with her wide blue eyes. "Hermione and I looked all over the train for you, we thought you might have missed it, and we didn't see you at the feast either! We were worried sick!"

"People have been spreading the most ridiculous rumors," Hermione added breathlessly. "Someone said you'd been expelled for crashing a flying car!"

"Well, we haven't been expelled," Harry assured her.

"Wait, what?!" said Mia.

"You're saying you two _did _fly here in a stolen car?" Hermione said in a dangerous voice. Harry cowered slightly and Ron gulped as the two witches bared down upon them, one with her arms folded across her chest, the other with her hands on her hips, and both wearing blazing expressions and glaring daggers at their guilty faces. Man, there were really in for it now…

**I hope you guys liked it. Please rate and review! **


	5. It's Good to Be Back

**Hi guys! I present chapter five of "You Were Always There: Part Two." I have to say, I really like this chapter, and I hope you all will too. Some good time has gone into it, and I hope you all find it worth the wait. **

**Again, thank you for all your support, and pretty, pretty please review, I love to know what you guys think! Any questions, comments, or improvements there is to me made, just let me know and I'll fix it! Thank you so much guys, you're all what keeps me going. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter are not mine. **

Chapter Five: It's Good to Be Back

MPOV

The morning of the first day of classes shone bright and early. The early sunlit rays peeked their way into the second year girl's dormitory and stretched out across Mia's bed, falling into her face. She scrunched up her nose a little and moaned, shifting slightly underneath her blankets. After about a minute, she reluctantly opened her eyes, blinking them against the bright sun. It took a few seconds for them to adjust, but once they did, Mia let out a soft sigh, smiling contentedly. She slowly sat up in bed, her tangled curls falling into her face. Mia gave a long stretch before reaching down by her legs to gently stroke Sapphire, who was curled up in a soft ball of fur underneath the sheets. Moving carefully so as not to disturb her, Mia got out of bed, her bare feet walking across the cool floor as she went over to the window.

It was a beautiful morning. The sun had just finished rising over the hills surrounding the castle, and was coating everything below in a warm glow. The grass on the school grounds were a luscious green color and the sky was nearly all a lovely shade of forget-me-not blue. It was still a little early, but not too early to start getting ready for the day. Mia spent a couple more minutes at the window, completely awed by the view, until she heard another soft mumble coming from one of the beds. She looked over to see Hermione starting to wake up as well, along with Lavender Brown.

"Morning Hermione," greeted Mia. "Morning Lavender."

"Good morning Mia," said Hermione while Lavender gave a sleepy wave as she yawned. "What time is it?"

"Not too early," Mia replied. "Breakfast should start in a little less than an hour."

"Really?" said Lavender as she rubbed her eyes. "Guess we better start getting ready then."

Lavender reached behind her and grabbed two of her many pillows and flung one over at Parvati's bed and the other at Rachel's bed.

"Ow! Lavender! What was that for?!" yelled Parvati as Rachel gave a small squeal and fell out of bed, landing on the floor tangled up in her covers.

"It's time to get up, breakfast is soon," replied Lavender as she swung her legs out of bed. At that moment, Mia and Hermione turned their heads to look at each other, both girls going completely still, staring each other down. Mia's eyes flickered towards the door that led to the showers and then went back to Hermione. And then, as if someone had shot off a pistol, both Gryffindor girls bolted over towards the door, moving so fast they could have been a blur. Parvati jumped out of the way as the brunettes went rushing by, and in the next second, Mia grabbed a hold of the door handle, twisted it open, and dashed inside, quickly slamming it behind her, easily locking Hermione out.

"Mia!" called Hermione from the other side, banging her fist on the door.

"You have to be faster Mione," Mia laughed triumphantly with a wicked smirk. Just over a half hour later, Hermione and Mia were cleaned, dressed in their Hogwarts school robes, and all set to go. As Mia stuffed the last of her books inside her bag, Sapphire made her presence known by climbing out of the sheets and meowing. Mia smiled at her pet, stroking her back and scratching her behind the ears. Sapphire leaned into her touch as if she were greatly enjoying it, and then she reached up, trying to catch hold of Mia's charm on her necklace.

"No silly girl, you can't have this," Mia giggled. "How do you feel about waking up the boys for us?"

Sapphire purred loudly and after swiping at Mia's necklace one more time, she stretched and then pranced off of her bed, leaving through the open door with her tail high in the air. Mia smiled fondly after her cat and then turned to Hermione, who was brushing her hair, trying to get it somewhat under control. Hermione made a face as she pulled at a particular tight knot, causing Mia to roll her eyes. She went over and took the hairbrush without a word, standing behind Hermione and carefully running it through the frizzy mane.

"I still can't believe Harry and Ron crashed a flying car into the school grounds," Hermione grumbled. "They're lucky they haven't been expelled! How could they be so stupid?"

"I don't know Mione. They're boys, they always act before they think," answered Mia.

"Well that little party they had last night certainly didn't deflate their heads," Hermione said sourly. "They just don't understand how serious this is, or how many rules they have broken."

"At least they both have detentions," said Mia. "Maybe after spending some time with Filch, cleaning the hospital bedpans or Snape's office they'll think twice about doing it again. Come on Hermione, we yelled at them enough last night."

"We barely even got two words in before they were sucked into the cheering crowd. Honestly, this will go straight to their heads—ouch!"

"I'm sorry!" Mia said quickly. "Merlin Hermione, your hair is unbelievable. How about I put it into a braid so it won't be as bad to brush tonight?"

"Thanks Mia," Hermione said, a smile on her face. As soon as Mia was through brushing out all the knots in Hermione's hair, she pulled it up into a single long braid down her back, tying it off at the end with a glittering red scrunchie. Once that was done, each girl grabbed her bag and then they set off for the Great Hall to get an early start on breakfast. They would usually wait for the boys, but Mia knew Hermione was still angry at them, so she thought it would be best to give her time to cool down some. They pushed through the portrait hole, chatting together about their classes as they traveled down the corridors and the changing staircases. By the time Mia and Hermione reached the Great Hall, it was about halfway filled with students, and Mia' stomach rumbled as she caught sight of all the delicious food sitting on the tables. There were piles of toast, mounds of eggs, groups of sausage, and heaps of pancakes. Mia and Hermione sat down at their own table close to the middle, and Mia started scooping some eggs onto her plate while Hermione pulled out her copy of _Voyages with Vampires _and propped it open against the milk jug so she could snatch some toast and porridge. They both fell into comfortable silence for a while until they heard someone speaking to them.

"Good morning Ickle Secondies."

Mia smiled as she saw Fred and George Weasley coming towards them, both wearing joyous and mischievous grins on their faces that told Mia they were up to no good. Both twins sat on either side of the girls and began filling their plates as well. There was something about them that Mia couldn't quite figure out, but she knew them well enough by now to know when to suspect them of something.

"Okay, what did you two do?" she said.

"Whatever do you mean Mia darling?" asked Fred, batting his eyelashes innocently at her.

"Would you be a dear and pass the marmalade?" said George with a much-too-pleasant grin.

"I will as soon as you tell me what you've done," replied Mia with a smirk. "I know you two, and you're looking way too innocent this morning."

"I'm sure we have no idea what you are talking about," said George, pulling off an air of surprise. "How could you think so low of us Mia?"

"Come on guys," said Mia. "Spill it."

"We have nothing to spill," said Fred, but he couldn't hold off his grin. "Besides, even if we _were_ to do something, why would we want to do it at the crack of dawn?"

"Exactly. Such an unexpected and vulnerable time period such as breakfast should not be disturbed," continued George, his grin as big as his brother's. "Especially not by a clever, ingenious and harmless prank that should _possibly_ be revealed in three…two…one—"

"WEASLEY!"

Mia and everyone else in the hall whipped around to see a small group of three students standing up at the Slytherin table. She vaguely remembered them as Marcus Flint, Terence Higgs, and Peter Mullen, members of the Slytherin Quidditch team from last year, and the minute she saw them, she nearly choked on her bacon. Each boy had vibrant scarlet and gold spiked hair that reminded Mia strongly of Harry's, and there was a sprinkle of gold dust in their hair as well, making it shine splendidly in the morning sun. All three Slytherins were flushed and looking positively murderous as they glared at Fred and George.

"Good morning chaps!" George called cheerfully. "How are you all on this fine day?"

"I must say, I love what you all did with your hair," said Fred, trying his best not to break into fits of laughter. "I knew you'd all warm up to us sooner or later."

"YOU'RE BOTH GONNA GET IT!" Flint yelled as he, Higgs, and Mullen started running towards them.

"Oh look at the time, we really must be off," Fred said as he hastily scooped up some toast and bananas into his arms while George grabbed his bowl of cereal. "We will see you lovely ladies later."

With that being said, the Weasley twins raced out of the hall, their arms laden with food and the Slytherins hot on their heels. Nearly everyone in the hall was laughing while all the other Slytherins were scowling. Dumbledore himself was smiling and chuckling while Professor McGonagall sighed heavily, rubbing her hands to her temples. Mia was still giggling by the time Harry and Ron came into the hall and joined them at the table. Hermione gave them a stiff greeting, never looking away from her textbook, while Mia tried to stifle her giggles by taking a bite out of her eggs, offering a much more cheerful "hello." After a few seconds, Mia looked over to see Harry staring at her somewhat guiltily, his eyes bright and a tiny pout on his lips. Even though she wasn't mad at him anymore, she could still feel her walls crumble and she silently cursed herself for falling for those bloody green eyes all the time.

"You can stop looking at me like that Harry," she said as she turned back to her food. "I already forgave you."

"Told you," she heard Ron mumble under his breath while Harry grinned at her. Just as the boys were settling into their own breakfast, there was a screech overhead, and soon the hall was filled with owls, soaring overhead and dropping letters and packages into their owner's laps. Mia was sipping her orange juice when a familiar owl came sweeping down towards them. Her eyes widened and before she could give warning, the owl flew headfirst into Hermione's milk jug, his feathers going everywhere and splashing everyone close by.

"Errol!" said Ron, pulling the bedraggled owl out by the feet. Errol slumped, Unconscious, onto the table, his legs in the air and a damp red envelope in his beak. Worried, Mia handed the envelope to Ron before gathering Errol into her arms and placing him on the table in front of her and Hermione.

"Oh, no—" Ron gasped.

"It's all right, he's still alive," said Hermione, prodding Errol gently with the tip of her finger.

"It's not that—it's _that_."

Ron was pointing at the red envelope, and staring at it as if it were some kind of monster that was about to bite him. It looked like a simple letter to Mia, but Ron and Neville Longbottom, who had also seen the letter, were both looking at it as though they expected it to explode.

"What's the matter?" said Harry.

"She's—she's sent me a Howler," said Ron faintly.

"Howler? What in the world is a Howler?" asked Mia, her eyebrows furrowed.

"You'd better open it, Ron," said Neville in a timid whisper. "It'll be worse if you don't. My gran sent me one once, and I ignored it and—it was horrible."

Everyone was now staring at the letter in Ron's hands, and Mia was shocked to see that it had started to smoke at the corners.

"Open it," Neville urged. "It'll all be over in a few minutes."

Ron visibly gulped and, with a shaking hand, slit it open. Neville stuffed his fingers in his ears. A split second later, Mia knew why, as a roar of sound filled the huge hall, shaking dust from the ceiling.

"—STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU! YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE—"

The Howler was bellowing at super high volume in Mrs. Weasley's voice, and it echoed throughout the entire hall, making the plates and goblets quiver and making Mia's eardrums throb painfully. People were swiveling around in their seats to see who had received the Howler, and Ron sank so low in his chair that only his crimson forehead could be seen. Even though Mia was expecting his mother to write to him, Mia did feel bad for Ron at the moment.

"—LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS! YOU AND HARRY COULD BOTH HAVE DIED —"

Mia glanced over at Harry, who was trying very hard to look as though he couldn't hear the Howler at all. A couple people snickered, but stopped immediately when Mia threw them a dangerous glare.

"—ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED—YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME!"

Before any of them could even blink, the red envelope, which had dropped from Ron's hand, burst into flames and curled into ashes. Mia sat there, stunned at what just happened, and she slowly looked up at Ron, who was still nearly seated under the table, his red forehead burning fiercely. A few more people laughed before everyone went back to their own business. Harry was looking extremely guilty, and Mia's heart went out to them. Despite making an incredibly stupid decision, she knew that they never intended for Mr. Weasley to get into trouble at work. She took hold of his hand and gave it a squeeze, trying her best to cheer him up. He gave her a weak smile as Hermione closed her book and looked down at the top of Ron's head.

"Well, I don't know what you expected, Ron, but you—"

"Don't tell me I deserved it!" snapped Ron. There a short, awkward silence after this, and Mia remembered that Errol was still unconscious on the table. Moving carefully, she took him into her arms again, and then stood up from the table. She jogged over to the head table, where she saw Hagrid, drinking from a huge goblet.

"Hagrid?" said Mia as she approached. "Could you please look after Errol until he gets better? He's very old, and just came a long way."

"'O course I can Mia," Hagrid replied, taking the little fluff ball into his colossal hands. "I'll make sure this lil' guy is good enough ter fly."

Mia thanked Hagrid and then went back to her seat just as Professor McGonagall was moving along the Gryffindor table, handing out course schedules. When she handed Mia hers, she quickly scanned it and saw that Gryffindor had double Herbology with the Hufflepuffs first, and then they had Transfiguration. They all finished their breakfast in the next ten minutes, and then Mia, Harry, Ron, and Hermione left the castle together, crossed the vegetable patch, and made for the greenhouses, where the magical plants were kept.

Hermione, thinking Harry and Ron had now been punished enough, was being nice to them again, and they all made pleasant talk while they walked. Mia was just telling Harry about Mrs. Brugger when they finally came up to the greenhouses, and they saw the rest of the class standing outside, waiting for Professor Sprout. The four of them had only just joined them when she came striding into view across the lawn, accompanied by Gilderoy Lockhart. Professor Sprout's arms were full of bandages, and her mouth was set into a hard frown as they walked towards the class.

"Oh, hello there!" Lockhart called, beaming around at the assembled students. "Just been showing Professor Sprout the right way to doctor a Whomping Willow! But I don't want you running away with the idea that I'm better at Herbology than she is! I just happen to have met several of these exotic plants on my travels…"

"Greenhouse three today, chaps!" said Professor Sprout, who was looking almost desperate to get away from Lockhart . Mia instantly perked up, as did Neville and some of the other students. They had only ever worked in greenhouse one before—greenhouse three housed far more interesting and dangerous plants. Professor Sprout made her way to the front of the group and unlocked the door into the greenhouse. The fresh and heavy scent of damp earth filled Mia's nose as she inhaled and she loved it. Herbology was her favorite class, next to Potions and Astronomy. She liked learning about all the different plants and what to do with them, and as Herbology is directly connected to making potions, something Mia had a natural talent for, it was an added bonus. Mia was excited to see what they would be doing today, but as her and the others started making their way inside, Lockhart suddenly shot his arm out and grasped Harry's shoulder.

"Harry! I've been wanting a word," he said, his obnoxiously white teeth gleaming. "You don't mind if he's a couple of minutes late, do you, Professor Sprout?"

Without even waiting for her reply, Lockhart said, "That's the ticket," and closed the greenhouse door in her face. Professor Sprout, looking disgruntled, strode off to the front of the class and then turned around to look at everyone, keeping herself composed and welcoming them all with a bright smile.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts second years, and welcome to greenhouse three," she greeted. "And know you're all excited, and you have good reason to be. We'll be starting in a few minutes, so you all pair up in groups at the tables, no more than four or five."

The class started to break up into their groups, and Mia went to stand next to Ron and Hermione at one of the tables, which had a line of pots on top, with green stems and leaves poking out of the soil. While they did this, Professor Sprout pulled out a box and placed a bunch of different colored earmuffs on the bench in front of her. Just as Mia was wondering what they could possibly need the earmuffs for, she heard someone say her name.

"Hey Mia!"

Mia looked up to see a familiar set of hazel eyes, and she smiled.

"Hi Alex!" she said. "How are you?"

"I'm great, thanks," he said. "I hope the rest of your summer was good."

"It was," Mia said. "Oh Alex, these are my best friends, Ron and Hermione."

"Nice to meet you Alex," said Hermione.

"Nice to meet you guys too," said Alex. "Ron, your dad works in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the Ministry, right? My dad knows him."

"Really?" said Ron, looking stumped.

"My dad has an interest in Muggles," Alex explained. "Sometimes my dad visits your dad in his office and they talk about all the different types of Muggle electronics."

Ron looked stunned, but yet pleasantly surprised. Mia supposed that no one seemed to take a real interest in the kind of work his dad did at the Ministry too often.

"Anyway," said Alex. "That Lockhart bloke is a little full of himself, don't you think?"

"Yes," Mia and Ron said together as Hermione glared at them.

"Honestly, if anything he says is true, I'll give Malfoy a kiss," said Mia.

"He's a great wizard!" Hermione countered. "He's brave, and noble, and—"

"And a complete bigheaded toe rag," added Ron, rolling his eyes. "I don't know why you're so infatuated with him Hermione, the man's as thick as anyone can get."

Mia and Alex both laughed quietly at this while Hermione's eyes narrowed, and just as she was about to retort, the door to the greenhouse opened again, and Harry slipped back inside. He quickly walked over to them and took his place beside her, and Mia raised an eyebrow at him.

"What did Lockhart want?" she whispered.

"Later," Harry whispered back, making an annoyed expression that made Mia smirk at him.

"Oh Harry, this is Alex, the boy I told you I met at the lake," Mia introduced.

"Good to meet you, mate," Alex greeted, sticking out his hand for Harry to shake. Harry took it and offered a friendly smile, but they didn't have a chance to say too much, because Professor Sprout began to speak again.

"We'll be repotting Mandrakes today," said Professor Sprout. "Now, who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake?"

Both Hermione and Mia raised their hands into the air, each one with an eager expression.

"Yes, Miss Thatcher?" said Professor Sprout.

"Mandrake, or Mandragora, is a powerful restorative," said Mia. "It is used to return people who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state."

"Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor," said Professor Sprout. "The Mandrake forms an essential part of most antidotes. It is also, however, dangerous. Who can tell me why?"

Hermione's hand once again shot up into the air.

"The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it," she said promptly.

"Precisely, take another ten points," said Professor Sprout proudly. "Now, the Mandrakes we have here are still very young. Everyone take a pair of earmuffs."

Everyone walked around the tables and towards the front to grab a pair of earmuffs, while Professor Sprout was saying, "When I tell you to put them on, make sure your ears are completely covered. When it is safe to remove them, I will give you the thumbs-up. Right—earmuffs on."

Mia and the others snapped the earmuffs over his ears, and once they were fastened in place, she could no longer hear any sort of sound around her. She watched as Professor Sprout put the pink, fluffy pair over her own ears, rolled up the sleeves of her robes, grasped one of the tufty plants firmly, and pulled hard.

Her mouth dropping open, Mia stared as instead of roots, a small, muddy, and extremely ugly baby popped out of the earth. The leaves were growing right out of his head, and he had pale green, mottled skin, and was clearly bawling at the top of his lungs. Professor Sprout took a large plant pot from under the table and plunged the Mandrake into it, burying him in dark, damp soil until only the tufted leaves were visible. Professor Sprout dusted off her hands, gave them all the thumbs-up, and removed her own earmuffs.

"As our Mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries won't kill yet," she said. "However, they will knock you out for several hours, and as I'm sure none of you want to miss your first day back, make sure your earmuffs are securely in place while you work. I will attract your attention when it is time to pack up. Four to a tray—there is a large supply of pots here—compost in the sacks over there—and be careful of the Venemous Tentacula, it's teething."

Everyone set to work repotting the Mandrakes, which was much harder than it looked. The Mandrakes put up a good fight coming out of the pots, and an even bigger fight to stay out of the new ones. Working with them was a Hufflepuff boy named Justin Finch-Fletchley, who was a nice boy, and a Muggleborn like Mia and Hermione. Together they stuffed the struggling dirty babies into their pots, becoming extremely dirty and sweaty as they did so. Mia was wiping the smudged mud off of her cheeks when Professor Sprout signaled the end of class and instructed them to take off their earmuffs. Sighing with relief, Mia took off hers and wiped her hands on a cloth before grabbed her things and leaving the greenhouse with her friends, making their way up the sloping lawns back to the castle for their transfiguration class.

In today's class, they all had to transform beetles into buttons. Mia got the hang of it after her second try, and she beamed when the glittering black beetle on her desk became a shiny new black button. Next to her, Hermione also managed to properly transform her beetles, while Harry and Ron were having a little difficulty behind them. Harry's beetle kept scurrying around on his desk while Ron was barely able to do anything at all because it his broken wand. It had been damaged beyond repair, and kept making puffs of green colored smoke that smelled like bad eggs. Professor McGonagall walked by and gave Mia and Hermione small smiles, and frowning at Ron, who had accidently killed his beetle. By the end of the class, only Hermione and Mia had managed to change all their beetles. As they left for lunch, Ron was still glowering over his wand, and it didn't help when Hermione showed them the perfect coat buttons she had made.

"What've we got this afternoon?" said Harry, hastily changing the subject. Mia smirked at him and gently nudged his side, whispering, "Always the peacemaker, huh?"

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Hermione as Harry nudged Mia back, smiling.

"Why," demanded Ron, seizing Hermione's schedule, "have you outlined all Lockhart's lessons in little hearts?"

"What?" said Mia as Hermione snatched the schedule back, blushing furiously.

"Mione," groaned Mia. "You're really not going to be obsessed with this guy are you? He's a fake if I ever saw one!"

"He is not a fake!" Hermione protested, still red in the face. "You know all the stuff he's done."

"Sure, and I'm in love with Vincent Crabbe," said Mia, rolling her eyes.

"Ugh Mia, come on, I thought you could do better," said Harry, grinning.

"Hey!" Mia exclaimed, whipping around to face him. "You watch it Potter, or I'll send you flying into the Black Lake."

"You can't catch me," said Harry. Mia stared at him for a moment, then she grinned as well, and before he could even protest, Mia took a step back and in the next moment, she jumped up on Harry's back, latching her arms around him. Harry gave a yell of surprise, and dropped his bag on the floor.

"Caught you!" Mia said triumphantly.

"Mia!" said Harry. "Get off!"

"No, I'm rather comfy up here, actually," Mia countered while Ron was laughing and Hermione was rolling her eyes at them. "Now, on to the Great Hall!"

"I'm not a horse," said Harry, but with a barely suppressed smile.

"You are today," Mia relied simply. "Now get going!"

Harry sighed but he grabbed hold of her legs and then started jogging down the corridor, with Mia smiling and giggling the whole way. Ron and Hermione followed after taking Harry's bag, the both of them smiling at the sight of Mia and Harry racing and laughing all the way down to the Great Hall, causing passersby to stare. After a delicious lunch, Mia, Harry, Ron, and Hermione went outside into the overcast courtyard. Hermione sat down on a stone step and buried her nose in Voyages with Vampires again while Mia took out her sketchpad and started to draw to pass the time. Harry was standing beside them, talking over Quidditch with Ron, and after a few minutes, Mia saw a small, timid looking boy with mousey brown hair and bug eyes slowly walk up to Harry, a camera in his hands. Harry must have noticed someone watching him, and when he turned around to see who it was, the boy's face went bright red.

"All right, Harry? I'm—I'm Colin Creevey," he said breathlessly, taking a tentative step forward. "I'm in Gryffindor, too. D'you think—would it be all right if—can I have a picture?"

"A picture?" Harry repeated blankly.

"So I can prove I've met you," said Colin Creevey eagerly, edging further forward. "I know all about you. Everyone's told me. About how you survived when You-Know-Who tried to kill you and how he disappeared and everything and how you've still got a lightning scar on your forehead, and a boy in my dormitory said if I develop the film in the right potion, the pictures'll move."

Mia couldn't help but smile at Colin's excitement. This boy was so adorable, and anyone with a brain could tell how fascinating and admiring he found Harry.

"It's amazing here, isn't it?" Colin continued. "I never knew all the odd stuff I could do was magic till I got the letter from Hogwarts. My dad's a milkman, he couldn't believe it either. So I'm taking loads of pictures to send home to him. And it'd be really good if I had one of you—maybe your friend could take it and I could stand next to you? And then, could you sign it?"

Harry was speechless and he looked like he wasn't quite sure what to do. The whole thing was cute and quite funny you Mia, and she had to keep herself from laughing at her best friend's predicament. Just as she was about to save Harry from Colin, another voice joined in on the discussion.

"_Signed photos?_ You're giving out _signed photos_, Potter?"

Mia closed her eyes and groaned at the all-too-familiar drawling voice that made her want to hit her head against a wall every time she heard it. Draco Malfoy, along with his usual cronies stepped out from the crowd and stopped right behind Colin, wearing his famous nasty sneer.

"Everyone line up!" Malfoy roared to everyone. "Harry Potter's giving out signed photos!"

"No, I'm not," said Harry angrily, his fists clenching. "Shut up, Malfoy."

"You're just jealous," piped up Colin, whose entire body was about as thick as Crabbe's neck.

"Jealous?" said Malfoy. "Of what? I don't want a foul scar right across my head, thanks. I don't think getting your head cut open makes you that special, myself."

"Oh of course not," Mia said, slamming her sketchpad shut. "I'm sure being a right little Daddy's boy is so much better, isn't it? Honestly, if I had a galleon every time you whined I would be able to buy you a rattle to go along with your nappies."

Ron snorted with laughter, along with a few other people, while the smirk on Malfoy's face fell and he glared at Mia.

"You think you're so clever, don't you Thatcher? Think you're so special? You couldn't be more pathetic even if you tried, everyone knows you're just weak, and not worth anyone's time. At least I'm not the one who almost let their friend be killed by a psychotic wizard."

Mia's face flushed a dark shade of red at Malfoy's words, and she felt her hands start to shake violently as she clenched her jaw. His words made a sharp stab at her heart as she remembered all too well the events that happened at the end of last year. Quirrell, the Stone, Voldemort's screams of _"Kill him!", _how she watched helplessly as Harry was being choked to death, and how she failed to protect him…

"Eat slugs, Malfoy," said Ron angrily, while Hermione reached out and grabbed the back of Harry's robes, as he was starting to make a furious move towards Malfoy, his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Be careful, Weasley," sneered Malfoy. "You don't want to start any trouble or your Mummy'll have to come and take you away from school. _'If you put another toe out of line'_—"

A knot of Slytherin fifth-years nearby laughed loudly at this as they passed.

"Weasley would like a signed photo, Potter," smirked Malfoy. "It'd be worth more than his family's whole house—"

Ron whipped out his Spellotaped wand, and Mia stood to her feet in a flash, her cheeks still red and her hands clenched into fists at her side.

"I swear Malfoy, if you don't shut up—"

"What's all this, what's all this?"

Gilderoy Lockhart was striding toward them, his turquoise robes swirling behind him, and his gleaming white teeth shining brightly as he stared around at them all. "Who's giving out signed photos?"

Harry started to speak but he was cut short as Lockhart flung an arm around his shoulders and thundered jovially, "Shouldn't have asked! We meet again, Harry!"

Harry's face started turning just as red as Mia's and she quietly growled as she saw Malfoy slide smirking back into the crowd. Things only got worse for Harry as Lockhart told Colin he could take a picture of both of them, and that they would both sign it. Colin eagerly accepted, and Harry uselessly tried to struggle to get away. As soon as Colin took the picture, the afternoon bell sounded, telling them all that it was time to head to class. Lockhart kept a hold of Harry until they entered the classroom, and the minutes he was free, a red-faced Harry immediately went to the very back of the room and began building a barrier of books between him and Lockhart. Mia, Ron and Hermione took seats on either side of Harry, with Ron snickering.

"You could've fried an egg on your face," said Ron still laughing under his breath. "You'd better hope Creevey doesn't meet Ginny, or they'll be starting a Harry Potter fan club."

"Shut up," snapped Harry. While the rest of the class was settling in, he turned to look at Mia.

"Mia, are you all right?" he asked her. "Don't listen to what Malfoy said. You know I don't blame you for what happened."

"I know, Harry. I'm fine really," Mia said softly, trying to give him a reassuring smile, knowing she was telling him a complete lie. She knew she shouldn't have let Malfoy get to her, but she couldn't help it. He reminded her of how she almost lost her best friend, and how she almost let it happen. A familiar feeling of sadness and guilt crept up on her and it was hard to shake away. Harry didn't look convinced by her words, and he was about to say something, but at that moment Lockhart turned to face the class, and they had to be quiet. Mia tried her best to push these negative feelings away and focus on the lesson.

_Well, so much for a good first day back…_

**Rate and review! Thanks! **


	6. Filthy Little Mudbloods

**Hi everyone! I'm so happy with all the reviews, favorites, and follows I received in such a short amount of time! I'm very glad you all like this story so much, and I'll do my best to make sure I'll keep it interesting.**

**Well, here's chapter six, and I must say, I really love this one too! There is a slight twist to a specific scene in this story, and it'll be explained in the note. So, I hope you all like this, and tell me what you think. Reviews, comments, questions are most welcome, so don't be shy okay? Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter are not mine. **

Chapter Six: Filthy Little Mudbloods

HPOV

Over the next week, Harry had taken to avoiding Lockhart as much as humanly possible, always dodging out of sight when he saw him walking through the corridors. However, the same could not be said for little Colin Creevey. Ever since that day in the courtyard, the young first year had taken to sticking to Harry's side like glue, chatting away nonstop, and asking Harry about a dozen or so questions each time he saw him. It was getting quite annoying, and it didn't help that Colin apparently memorized Harry's schedule. It was a regular occurrence during the day, and at night during dinner, Colin would openly gaze at Harry as if he had never seen anything quite like him, and Harry did his best to avoid those big, admiring eyes. Mia and Hermione both thought it was adorable for Harry to have such an excited fan and Ron thought it was downright hilarious, as he kept snickering when Colin ran up to them in the middle of the corridor, saying, "All right, Harry?"

Despite having an extremely talkative shadow with him twenty-four seven, Harry was happy to be falling back into the routine of Hogwarts. Every morning he would wake up with Ron, and the two of them would go downstairs to meet up with the girls before going to breakfast in the Great Hall. Speaking of which, Harry was starting to get a little concerned for Mia. Ever since Malfoy had said those things to her in the courtyard, she has seemed to stay clear of the subject of what happened last year altogether. Harry hated Malfoy for making Mia so upset, and no matter how many times he's tried to reassure her, he knew she still blamed herself for him almost getting killed. It was a guilt that was still looming over her like a cloud, and he didn't know what to do to convince her that it wasn't her fault at all. They all knew what they were getting into when they went through the trapdoor, they couldn't possibly have known that Voldemort was going to be there. Besides, Harry could never blame her anyway. Mia meant more to him than anything, and he also remembered what she said when he tried to talk them out of going after the Stone with him. He knew she would always be there for him, that she would stand beside him, and that alone meant more to him than she would ever know.

Their classes were just as interesting as before, if not even better. In Herbology, Harry and his friends spent more time talking with Alex Parker, and he was actually a decent guy. He would talk about Quidditch with Harry and Ron, and it turns out that Alex was going to try out for a position on the team. Potions was still as horrible as ever, but it gave Harry some satisfaction to see Mia doing well in that class. Despite Snape's attitude towards them, Mia still manages to follow directions perfectly, brewing almost perfect cauldrons each and every time, much to Snape's displeasure. Harry couldn't help but smile whenever Snape passed by their work station, because although he always had something nasty to say about Harry, he had no criticism for Mia whatsoever. He would always sneer and move on to the next table, snapping out more instructions.

"You're really one of the best students in the class Mia," Hermione complemented her one day after a two hour session with the Slytherins. "You could have the makings of a great Healer."

"A what?" asked Harry.

"A Healer is basically like a Muggle doctor," Mia had explained. "I'm not sure Mione, I haven't really given any thought on what I want to do as a career."

"I think everyone but Hermione hasn't given a thought to their career yet," Ron chuckled, but stopped dead at the look on Hermione's face.

"I can see you being a Healer Mia," said Harry. "Either that or a teacher."

"Harry, don't tell her to be a teacher! Are you mad?!" said Ron with a look of horror.

"Why can't I be a teacher?" said Mia, raising an eyebrow. "You never know, I could end up teaching your kids one day."

"_Kids?_ But—I'm not—," Ron sputtered, going slightly red in the face. "Will you guys please get your heads back to the present so we can get to class?"

"I never thought I would hear that coming out of your mouth Ron," Mia said with a grin while Harry and Hermione laughed at the look on his face.

By the time Friday came around, Harry and the others were looking forward to the weekend. They decided they were going to visit Hagrid in the morning, since they haven't had a chance to speak to him all week. That night they had a great time in the common room. Fred and Geroge set off some small fireworks just for fun, while Harry, Mia, Ron and Hermione sat by the fireplace, with him and Ron playing some chess on the floor, and Hermione whispering to Mia on the loveseat behind them, the both of them rather giggly. Harry had no clue what they were laughing about until he was suddenly hit in the back of the head by a cushion, making him jerk his hand forward and send his knight flying off the board. When he looked up, he saw Hermione giggling and Mia whistling in a would-be innocent way. Instead of being annoyed, he simply grabbed another pillow and hit Mia back. What followed was an all-out war that started out in the common room and made its way up to the boy's dormitory, with Harry, Ron and Mia going at each other like maniacs. Hermione was reluctant to join, but soon changed her mind the minute Mia whacked her in the face. It was late by the time they called a truce and headed to bed, and Harry felt like he had only just laid down on his bed before he was being shaken awake once again.

"Whassamatter?" said Harry groggily.

"Quidditch practice!" came the voice of Oliver Wood, captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. "Come on!"

Harry slowly lifted his head and squinted at the window. There was a thin mist hanging across the pink-and-gold sky, and he internally groaned.

"Oliver," Harry croaked. "It's the crack of dawn."

"Exactly," said Wood, his eyes gleaming with a crazed enthusiasm. "It's part of our new training program. Come on, grab your broom, and let's go. None of the other teams have started training yet; we're going to be first off the mark this year."

Yawning and shivering slightly, Harry climbed out of bed and tried to find his Quidditch robes.

"Good man," said Wood. "Meet you on the field in fifteen minutes."

Oliver quickly left the dorm while Harry searched around for his scarlet and gold robes. Once was dressed, he grabbed his cloak for warmth, scribbled a note to Ron explaining where he'd gone and went down the spiral staircase to the common room, his Nimbus Two Thousand on his shoulder. He yawned behind his hand as he walked, mentally grumbling over Wood's sanity, and he had just reached the portrait hole when there was a clatter behind him and Colin Creevey came dashing down the spiral staircase, his camera swinging madly around his neck and something clutched in his hand.

"Hiya Harry! I heard someone saying your name on the stairs. Look what I've got here! I've had it developed, I wanted to show you—"

Harry then saw that it was a picture that Colin was waving around in his hand. He took a look at it as Colin brandished it before him. A moving, black-and-white Lockhart was tugging hard on an arm Harry recognized as his own. He was pleased to see that his photographic self was putting up a good fight and refusing to be dragged into view. As Harry watched, Lockhart gave up and slumped, panting, against the white edge of the picture.

"Will you sign it?" said Colin eagerly.

"No," said Harry flatly, glancing around to check that the room was really deserted. "Sorry, Colin, I'm in a hurry—Quidditch practice—"

With that, Harry opened the portrait and stepped outside into the corridor. But he couldn't be relieved yet, as Colin clamored right after him.

"Oh, wow! Wait for me! I've never watched a Quidditch game before!" Colin said eagerly.

"It'll be really boring," Harry said quickly, but Colin ignored him.

"You were the youngest House player in a hundred years, weren't you, Harry? Weren't you?" said Colin, his eyes positively glowing. "You must be brilliant. I've never flown. Is it easy? Is that your own broom? Is that the best one there is? I don't really understand Quidditch. Is it true there are four balls? And two of them fly around trying to knock people off their brooms?"

"Yes," said Harry heavily, knowing it was impossible at this point to get rid of the overexcited Gryffindor. As they walked, Colin kept asking questions about Quidditch, all the while boasting of how incredible it was that Harry had gotten on the team at such a young age. Harry answered all of his questions, albeit exasperatedly. Colin just kept on going all the way down the staircases and out the front entrance doors. Harry and Colin walked all the way down to the Quidditch field, and when they reached the changing rooms, Harry told Colin that he had to get going before heading inside., where the rest of the team was waiting, nearly all of them asleep or very close.

"There you are, Harry, what kept you?" said Wood. "Now, I wanted a quick talk with you all before we actually get onto the field, because I spent the summer devising a whole new training program, which I really think will make all the difference."

The next hour was pent with Wood launching into a speech about his new tactics, and the new techniques that they would be learning that year. Harry found that he could barely keep his eyes open as Wood droned on and on, and he often daydreamed about what he could be having for breakfast right about now. His mouth practically drooled as he imagined smelling the delicious scent of sausage, the creamy flow of his porridge, or even the towering mountain of pancakes that was up in the Great Hall. His stomach growled softly and Harry had to shake his head of these thoughts as Wood kept on talking.

"So," said Wood, at long last, causing George to snort as he jerked awake. "Is that clear? Any questions?"

"I've got a question, Oliver," said George. "Why couldn't you have told us all this yesterday when we were awake?"

Fred and Angelina snickered, but Wood wasn't pleased.

"Now, listen here, you lot," he said, glowering at them all. "We should have won the Quidditch cup last year. We're easily the best team. But unfortunately—owing to circumstances beyond our control—"

Harry shifted guiltily in his seat. He had been unconscious in the hospital wing for the final match of the previous year, meaning that Gryffindor had been a player short and had suffered their worst defeat in three hundred years. Wood took a moment to regain control of himself. Their last defeat was clearly still torturing him.

"So this year, we train harder than ever before. Okay, let's go and put our new theories into practice!" Wood shouted, seizing his broomstick and leading the way out of the locker rooms. Harry yawned once again, grabbed his Nimbus and shuffled his way outside along with the rest of his team. When he was out on the field, he saw Ron, Hermione and Mia sitting in the stands.

"Aren't you finished yet?" called Ron incredulously.

"Haven't even started," Harry called back, looking jealously at the toast and marmalade they had brought out of the Great Hall. "Wood's been teaching us new moves."

Mia suddenly looked as though she had a brilliant idea, and she digged around in her bag before taking out a small muffin. She smiled at him and waved it out in front of her. Understanding what she was doing, Harry quickly mounted his broom, and in the next second, he was soaring up through the air. The wind came rushing at him, sending his hair flying backwards, and he instantly felt more awake than ever. He flew over to where his friends were sitting, and took the muffin Mia was offering him.

"Thanks Mia!" he said as he stuffed it in his mouth. She just laughed at him and waved for him to get going. Harry flew back over to his teammates, hurriedly chewing on his muffin. He soared right around the stadium at full speed, racing Fred and George.

"What's that funny clicking noise?" called Fred as they hurtled around the corner.

Harry looked into the stands and saw that Colin was sitting in one of the highest seats, his camera raised, taking picture after picture, the sound strangely magnified in the deserted stadium.

"Look this way, Harry! This way!" he cried shrilly.

"Who's that?" said Fred.

"No idea," Harry lied, putting on a spurt of speed that took him as far away as possible from Colin. He groaned as he saw that Hermione was whacking Ron upside the head for laughing, and Mia was waving up at Colin pleasantly, gesturing for him to come over and sit by them.

"What's going on?" said Wood. "Why's that first year taking pictures? I don't like it. He could be a Slytherin spy, trying to find out about our new training program."

"He's in Gryffindor," said Harry quickly.

"And the Slytherins don't need a spy, Oliver," said George matter-of-factly.

"What makes you say that?" said Wood.

"Because they're here in person," said George, pointing. Harry turned his head and saw, to his dismay, that George was right. Several people in green robes were walking onto the field, broomsticks in their hands. He frowned as Wood yelled in outrage, speeding towards the ground to land close to the Slytherin team. What in the world are they doing here?

"Flint!" Wood bellowed as Harry dismounted with Fred and George. "This is our practice time! We got up specially! You can clear off now!"

"Plenty of room for all of us, Wood," Flint said with a smug grin.

"But I booked the field!" said Wood, positively spitting with rage. "I booked it!"

"Ah," said Flint. "But I've got a specially signed note here from Professor Snape. _'I, Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice today on the Quidditch field owing to the need to train their new Seeker'_."

"You've got a new Seeker?" said Wood. "Where?"

Everyone stared as from behind the six large figures before them came a seventh, smaller boy, smirking all over his pale, pointed face. Harry's face hardened and his eyes narrowed at the sight of him. It was Draco Malfoy.

"Aren't you Lucius Malfoy's son?" said Fred, looking at Malfoy with dislike. Harry's hands clenched into fists as he glared the snobbish blonde, still fuming from what he had said to Mia earlier on in the week.

"Funny you should mention Draco's father," said Flint. "Let me show you the generous gift he's made to the Slytherin team."

All seven of them held out their broomsticks and Harry was stumped to see that they were all in possession of the new Nimbus Two Thousand and One. The Slytherins all had the same smug smile, and were holing themselves up in such a proud and superior way it set his teeth on edge and he scowled heavily at them. It figures, only someone like Malfoy would sneak his way onto the team by bribing.

"Very latest model. Only came out last month," said Flint carelessly, flicking a speck of dust from the end of his own. "I believe it outstrips the old Two Thousand series by a considerable amount. As for the old Cleansweeps"— he smiled nastily at Fred and George, who were both clutching Cleansweep Fives—" sweeps the board with them."

None of the Gryffindor team could think of anything to say for a moment. Malfoy was smirking so broadly his cold eyes were reduced to slits.

"Oh, look," said Flint. "A field invasion."

Ron, Hermione and Mia were crossing the grass to see what was going on. Mia was looking confused, but the minute she spotted Malfoy, her face became sour and she scowled as well.

"What's happening?" Ron asked Harry. "Why aren't you playing? And what's _he_ doing here?"

"I'm the new Slytherin Seeker, Weasley," said Malfoy. "Everyone's just been admiring the brooms my father's bought our team."

Ron gaped, open-mouthed, at the seven superb broomsticks in front of him.

"Good, aren't they?" said Malfoy smoothly. "You see Weasley, unlike some, my father can afford the best there is. But perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms, too. You could raffle off those Cleansweep Fives; I expect a museum would bid for them."

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in," said Hermione sharply. "They got in on pure talent."

"And Harry can fly circles around you any day," Mia added fiercely. "He was made Seeker in his first year, thanks to you, I might add."

The smug look on Malfoy's face flickered a bit as he gave Mia and Hermione a hard stare.

"No one asked for your opinions, you filthy little Mudbloods," he spat.

There was in instant uproar at Malfoy's words. Fred and George both yelled in fury as they dived for Malfoy, with Fred's hands reaching for his neck, but they were both blocked by Flint. Alicia Spinnet shrieked, _"How dare you!"_, and Wood was seething. But what really caught Harry's attention the most was Hermione and Mia's reactions. They both had expressions of slight shock on their faces, and Harry could see the hurt in Hermione's eyes as she watched the brawl that was going on in front of them. Ron, who was just as enraged as his brothers, brandished his broken wand and pointed it at Malfoy's face.

"You'll pay for that one Malfoy!" he shouted. In the next moment, a loud bang echoed around the stadium and a jet of green light shot out of the wrong end of Ron's wand, hitting him in the stomach and sending him reeling backward onto the grass. Mia gasped and then she, Harry and Hermione all ran forward to Ron's side.

"Ron! Ron! Are you all right?" squealed Hermione.

Ron was looking extremely pale and he had his mouth clamped shut, as if he were forcing something down. He turned onto his side and opened his mouth, but the minute he did, instead of words, a bunch of slimy and disgusting slugs came spilling out of his mouth and onto the grass. Mia gave a loud Ugh!" while the Slytherin team was paralyzed with laughter. Flint was doubled up, hanging onto his new broomstick for support and Malfoy was on all fours, banging the ground with his fist. The Gryffindors were gathered around Ron, who kept belching large, glistening slugs.

"We'd better get him to Hagrid's, it's nearest," said Harry. Mia and Hermione both nodded, and then they each grabbed one of Ron's arms, hoisting him to his feet.

"What happened, Harry? What happened? Is he ill? But you can cure him, can't you?"

Colin had run down from his seat and was now dancing alongside them as they left the field. Ron gave a huge heave and more slugs dribbled down his front.

"Oooh," said Colin, fascinated and raising his camera. "Can you hold him still, Harry?"

"Sorry Colin, but this really isn't the best time," said Mia as they started walking out of the stadium. As they passed by a still laughing Malfoy, Harry saw Mia glare at him from the corner of her eye, and then she purposely smacked her knee right into the side of his face, making him yell in pain and fall onto his back.

"Oh sorry, didn't see him there!" Mia called over her shoulder carelessly as she and Hermione continued to support Ron while they walked across the grounds, followed by a grinning Harry.

MPOV

Mia panted a bit as she and Hermione hastily took Ron down to Hagrid's hut near the edge of the forest. Poor Ron was burping up slugs as they went, and Mia made a face as she tried not to step in them. Hermione was whispering reassurances to him while they moved, and Mia was relieved to see that Hagrid's hut was very close. They were within twenty feet of Hagrid's house when the front door opened, but it wasn't Hagrid who emerged. Gilderoy Lockhart, wearing robes of palest mauve today, came striding out. Mia groaned. This was not the time for them to put up with him!

"Quick, behind here," Harry hissed, dragging Ron and Mia behind a nearby bush. Hermione stood still for a moment, seeming reluctant, but Mia rolled her eyes at her and grabbed a hold of the sleeve of her robes, yanking her behind the bush.

"It's a simple matter if you know what you're doing!" Lockhart was saying loudly to Hagrid. "If you need help, you know where I am! I'll let you have a copy of my book. I'm surprised you haven't already got one—I'll sign one tonight and send it over. Well, good-bye!"

Mia peeked around the corner and watched as Lockhart strode off towards the castle. The four of them waited until he was well out of sight before they quickly went up to Hagrid's front door, and Mia knocked urgently. Hagrid appeared at once, looking very grumpy, but his expression brightened when he saw who it was.

"Bin wonderin' when you'd come ter see me," he said cheerfully. "Come in, come in—thought you mighta bin Professor Lockhart back again—"

Five minutes later, Ron was holding a large copper basin in his lap, still very pale and ill-looking, and Mia, Harry, and Hermione was sitting next to him as he coughed up more and more slugs while Hagrid was bustling around, making tea for them. Mia looked sympathetic as she rubbed Ron's back when he disappeared into the basin again.

"I don't think there's anything to do except wait for it to stop," said Hermione anxiously. "That's a difficult curse to work at the best of times, but with a broken wand…"

Ron moaned into the basin, and Mia patted his back while Fang, the boarhound, came up to Harry and placed his head in his lap.

"What did Lockhart want with you, Hagrid?" Harry asked, scratching Fang's ears.

"Givin' me advice on gettin' kelpies out of a well," growled Hagrid, moving a half-plucked rooster off his scrubbed table and setting down the teapot. "Like I don' know. An' bangin' on about some banshee he banished. If one word of it was true, I'll eat my kettle."

"Told you," Mia said to Hermione, grinning at Hermione's frown.

"I think you're being a bit unfair," Hermione said. "Professor Dumbledore obviously thought he was the best man for the job—"

"He was the on'y man for the job," said Hagrid, offering them a plate of treacle fudge, while Ron coughed squelchily into his basin. "An' I mean the on'y one. Gettin' very difficult ter find anyone fer the Dark Arts job. People aren't too keen ter take it on, see. They're startin' ter think it's jinxed. No one's lasted long fer a while now. So tell me, who was he tryin' ter curse?"

There was brief silence in the hut. Mia looked down at her lap, not saying a word, her throat feeling tight. She knew she shouldn't be surprised, it was Malfoy, but for him to say it like that in front of everybody…she knew what the word meant, as she had come across it in one of the books in the library, but that didn't make it any easier to hear someone actually call her that.

"Malfoy," Harry answered. "He called Hermione and Mia…well, I don't know exactly what it means, but it must have been really bad, because everyone went wild."

Hermione, who was also very quiet, stool up from her seat and walked a couple steps away from them, her arms folded across her chest, and her eyes were looking glassy as she stared at the floor.

"He called us Mudbloods," Hermione said softly.

"He didn'!" Hagrid growled, looking downright outraged.

"He did," Mia said.

"What's a Mudblood?" asked Harry, looking back and forth between Mia and Hermione.

"It's about the most insulting name Malfoy could think of," gasped Ron, coming back up from the basin, his face hard. "Mudblood's a really foul name for someone who is Muggle-born—you know, non-magic parents. There are some wizards like Malfoy's family who think they're better than everyone else because they're what people call pure-blood."

"It's not a term one usually hears in civilized conversations," Mia mumbled, still looking at her lap. "Most pureblood wizards look down upon Muggleborns, believing them to be inferior, like they're nothing but common dirt."

After she spoke, Mia felt a comforting arm wrap around her shoulder, and she looked over to see Harry staring at her, his eyes soft yet fierce.

"Mia, you and Hermione are anything but common dirt," he said.

"Harry's right," Ron added. "I mean, the rest of us know it doesn't make any difference at all. Look at Neville Longbottom—he's pure-blood and he can hardly stand a cauldron the right way up."

"An' they haven't invented a spell our Mia and Hermione can' do," said Hagrid proudly, making Hermione go a brilliant shade of magenta even though she was on the verge of tears.

"It's a disgusting thing to call someone," said Ron, wiping his sweaty brow with a shaking hand. "Dirty blood, see. Common blood. It's ridiculous. Most wizards these days are half-blood anyway. If we hadn't married Muggles we would have died out."

He retched and ducked out of sight again.

"Well, I don' blame yeh fer tryin' ter curse him, Ron," said Hagrid loudly over the thuds of more slugs hitting the basin. "Bu' maybe it was a good thing yer wand backfired. 'Spect Lucius Malfoy would've come marchin' up ter school if yeh'd cursed his son. Least yer not in trouble. C'mere Hermione."

Hermione, still looking rather upset, came forward and Hagrid took her hands into his, smiling down at her gently and kindly.

"Don' yeh think on it Hermione. Don' yeh think in it fer one minute, eh? You and Mia are a pair o' the smartest witches I ever laid eyes on."

Hermione managed to give Hagrid a small smile, and Mia did the same as Harry gave her a gentle squeeze. Hagrid was right, they shouldn't be bothered by what Malfoy said. They could prove to him and everyone that she and Hermione could be just as powerful as any other witch or wizard, no matter what their blood status was.

"Thank you Hagrid," Mia said gratefully. "That really means a lot to us."

Hagrid nodded his head at her before abruptly turning to Harry.

"Harry," he said. "Gotta bone ter pick with yeh. I've heard you've bin givin' out signed photos. How come I haven't got one?"

Mia burst out laughing at this while Harry looked furious.

"I have _not_ been giving out signed photos," he said hotly. "If Lockhart's still spreading that around—"

"I'm on'y jokin'," Hagrid said as Mia nearly fell out of her seat. "I knew yeh hadn't really. I told Lockhart yeh didn' need teh. Yer more famous than him without tryin'."

"Bet he didn't like that," said Harry. "Come on Mia, it's not funny!"

"Yes it is!" Mia gasped as she tried to straighten herself up. "Oh Harry could you pretty please take a picture with me?"

"Don' think he did," said Hagrid, his eyes twinkling while Harry glared at the laughing brunette. "An' then I told him I'd never read one o' his books an' he decided ter go. Treacle fudge, Ron?"

"No thanks," said Ron weakly. "Better not risk it."

The rest of the visit was pleasant, and after a while, the curse started to lift a little bit, and Ron was burping up less slugs. Hagrid showed them the pumpkins he was growing for the Halloween feast, and Mia was amazed at how huge they were—there was one almost as big as Hagrid! She was thankful to him for cheering her and Hermione up like that, they really needed it. They spent a good while at Hagrid's until it was time to head back to the castle for lunch. After bidding him goodbye, Mia, Hermione, Ron and Harry all trudged their way back up the grassy slopes, with Ron only coughing up two slugs.

"Thanks for sticking up for us like that Ron," said Mia, patting his back. "I say you earned yourself some treats as soon as this curse fully wears off. I'm sure I still have some brownies and chocolate that my mum sent us."

"Cheers, Mia," Ron said with a grin, his face regaining some of its color. Mia laughed a little as they approached the front doors. The only way to make Ron truly happy was through food.

…

It was late at night, and the majority of the castle was quiet, students having retreated to their own common rooms earlier. Very few were out wandering around, as it was close to curfew, and one of those few happened to be Mia, who was skimming through some thick and dusty volumes in the library, reading by the glow of the lanterns under Madam Pince's watchful eye. She would usually be here with her friends, but Ron and Harry were serving their detentions tonight, and Hermione had only left just ten minutes ago to head back to the common room. Needing some more research for her Potions class, Mia told Hermione to go on ahead, and that she would be along shortly. However her eyes were beginning to itch with tiredness and her hand was starting to fall asleep from the notes she had been taking for the last hour or so. Mia sighed softly as she scanned over her parchment, rechecking her work to see that she had written it correctly.

"Miss Thatcher," said Madame Pince as she came over. "You really should be getting along now, it's close to curfew and you don't want to be getting in trouble now would you? Now come along, I'll check those books out for you, and then you can get going."

"Okay," Mia said, not even bothering to argue, for she was too tired. Mia started packing up all of her things into her bag, and once she was ready, she placed some of the books back on the shelves and then took the rest over to the front desk to Madame Pince. When they were cleared, Mia shoved them in her bag, bid Madame Pince a good night, and then walked out into the corridor. It was a little odd walking through the castle when it was so quiet, but Mia didn't really mind too much. The castle was so incredibly huge, and there's no telling what kind of fascinating secrets it holds within its walls. When she was by herself, Mia would often wonder about the founders of the school. She could imagine Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Hufflepuff working together to make such a grand school for young witches and wizards. It was almost as if the castle was alive, and its magic was more mysterious and active at night. Mia smiled as she continued making her way through the corridor and up the staircases, heading to Gryffindor tower. Most of the people in the portraits were asleep, and the ones who weren't were staring at her as she passed.

"You should hurry along young one," said a wizard in ruffles and tights. "Only ten minutes to curfew.

"Thanks," said Mia, picking up her pace a little bit. Just as she climbed on to the next set of steps, the staircase gave a sudden jerk, and Mia jumped up to hold the railing as the staircase started changing position.

"Come on, I don't have time for this!" Mia groaned as the stairs moved. They repositioned her to a door that led to the fifth floor corridor instead of the seventh, and Mia once again groaned. At this rate she'll have to pull double time in order to make it back to the common room before it was curfew. Cursing the staircases under her breath, Mia quickly shoved open the door and started walking down the fifth floor corridor. While she walked, she noticed this corridor wasn't as brightly lit as the other, and the shadows on the walls were more profound. Just then, there was a faint, nearly silent rustling that seemed to come out of nowhere, and Mia slowed down to a halt. She turned around to look at what was behind her, but all she saw was an empty corridor. What was that? Mia shook her head. Great, she's so tired she's starting to hear things. Mia started walking down the corridor again, but as she reached the end of it, she had to stop again. She sensed it this time rather than heard it. The air around her somehow felt colder, as if an invisible breeze came through one of the windows. Mia looked behind her again, and still there was nothing.

_What's wrong with me? Am I going crazy? _

Mia didn't understand why, but a feeling of anxiety was creeping over her, along with a bad case of nervousness. Was it her, or did the shadows seemed to be moving? No, it can't be, it's just the flickering flames from the torches…right? At that moment, she heard the rustling again and she started to get very, very nervous. Without thinking about it, she turned back around and practically burst through the door that led to a spiral staircase, quickly shutting it behind her. She rushed up the stairs, her heart beating a little faster than normal, and she was almost too scared to look behind her. She couldn't explain it, but she had the strongest feeling that someone—or _something_—was following her. When she reached the top of the top of the staircase and opened the door, she found herself around the corner from the seventh floor, and she breathed a sigh in relief. Tightening the strap of her bag on her shoulder, Mia ran forward and around the corner, but as she did, she had to skid to a stop and she let out a yelp as she nearly tackled into someone who stepped out from the shadows. Mia was so startled she dropped her bag to the floor, some of the books falling out. When she looked up, she was surprised and relieved to see that she had run into Ginny Weasley.

"Ginny!" Mia gasped as she clutched her heart. "What are you doing out here so late?"

"I'm…not sure," Ginny mumbled, looking slightly confused. "I guess I just wanted to go for a walk. I'm still not used to being away from home. What are you doing out here Mia?"

"I just came from the library," said Mia, starting to calm down some. "Ginny, are you all right?"

As Mia looked at the young girl, she saw that Ginny appeared to be sick. Her face was so very pale, her eyes seemed kind of dull, and she looked completely out of place, like she wasn't herself.

"I'm not sure, Ginny said again. "I don't feel so well."

"Do you want me to take you to the hospital wing?"

"No, I'll be fine. I guess I'm just tired."

"The first week of school can do that to you," Mia said with a kind smile. "Come one, you look like you could do with some chocolate, and I'm sure Fred and George nicked some juice from the kitchens."

Ginny smiled gratefully at her, and after she picked up her books, Mia placed a comforting arm around her, and then both girls went into the common room together, neither one of them noticing the monstrous shadow slinking around the corner, disappearing from sight.

**Note: The scene in Hagrid's hut is a mix of the book and movie, only because I feel the movie version has more emotion put into it. It proves Muggleborns are just as wonderful and talented at magic as anyone else. Rate and review please! **


	7. Deathday Parties and Frozen Cats

**Hi guys, I'm back! I'm very sorry for the delay, there's really no good excuse for it, but I'm just glad it did take me two weeks to update again. It took a while to finish this up, and I hope you all find it enjoyable, or at least satisfactory. As usual, any comments or questions, just let me know. Please review and tell me what you think! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter are not mine.**

Chapter Seven: Deathday Parties and Frozen Cats

MPOV

"Neville! Neville, over here!"

"Hi there Mia," Neville said as he walked over to her, adjusting his scarf so that it was tighter around his neck. "What are you doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Mia replied with a smile. Mia was sitting underneath the great willow tree that she and her friends usually sit under whenever the weather was warm. They days have now turned chilly and a little damp, bringing forth the very essence of fall. The ground was beginning to be coated with fiery-colored leaves, stripping the surrounding trees bare. Any trace of sun was hidden behind the looming and gloomy grey clouds that were settled overhead, marching in a melancholy daze. Mia thought it would be nice to take a stroll around the grounds, taking her sketchpad with her. At one point she had settled down under the willow and absentmindedly began to draw the trees and the lake, along with Hagrid's cabin on the edge of the forest.

"I was asking around to see if anyone had seen Trevor," Neville said sadly. "He got away again, and I think he might have gotten out of the common room somehow."

Mia smiled at him, pausing in her work and reaching down into her bag that she had brought with her. She then pulled out a familiar toad with big eyes and wet skin.

"Trevor!" Neville cried, rushing forward and taking his toad gratefully. "How did you find him?"

"He jumped up on the rock next to me," Mia explained. "I put him in my bag to keep him warm—I was going to find you once I got back up to the school. I'm not sure how he got all the way out here, but it's lucky I saw him."

"Thank you so much Mia," said Neville. "Well, I don't want to bother you, so I'll just—"

"You're not bothering me Neville," Mia said, scooting over a little bit. "You can sit with me if you want."

"Really? You…you want me to sit with you?"

"Of course I do," Mia answered kindly, gesturing for him to sit. Neville gave her a timid smile before sitting down on the ground next to her, keeping Trevor clutched close to his body.

"So what are you doing out here?" he asked.

"I thought it would be nice to draw for a little while," Mia replied, indicating her sketchpad.

"You draw?"

"Yeah, I've been doing it since I was little. I'm not great at it, but I'm still learning."

"But why out here?" Neville asked.

"It's a good place to think," Mia said. "Me, Ron, Harry and Hermione usually come out here to hang out together when the weather is nice, but I'm really the only one who comes out when it gets too cold."

"That's really cool," Neville said. "I wish I had great friends like you do…"

"Neville, we are your friends," Mia said comfortingly.

"I know that, I'm just…I'm not too good at making friends," Neville mumbled, his face going red. "No one really wants to hang out with me because I'm terrible at magic—you know all the worst things happen to me."

"You're not terrible," Mia sated firmly. "Remember what I told you last year? You just need a boost of confidence, and you can become one of the greatest wizards in history! Besides, who else in our year is the best in Herbology?"

Neville flushed even darker at that.

"Do you really think so?" he said quietly.

"I know so," Mia said. "And don't think everyone believes you're hopeless, because you're not. I'm sure your grandmother thinks you're wonderful."

"I'm not sure," Neville admitted, his sad look back on his face. "She expects me to be like my dad, she says I need to live up to the family name. I want to do better to make her proud."

"I'm sure you do, Neville," said Mia. "I'm sure your parents must be."

All at once, Mia wished she hadn't spoken, because after she spoke, Neville's face, if possible, turned even sadder, and he actually looked close to tears.

"Oh Neville, I'm sorry," Mia apologized quickly. "I didn't mean to upset you, I shouldn't have—"

"It's okay Mia," Neville said softly. "I know you didn't mean to. It's…it's just…"

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Mia said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Neville smiled at her in a thankful way, and then Mia once again reached back inside her bag, rummaging around until she pulled out her last cinnamon cookie that was left from the package her mother had sent her.

"Here you go Nev," Mia said, handing it to him. "I hope you like cinnamon."

Neville's face got considerably brighter at the new nickname and he looked much better than he did a second ago.

"Thanks Mia, you're a good friend," he said, taking a bite out of the cookie. The two Gryffindors sat together in a comfortable silence as Neville ate the cookie and Mia continued working on her drawing. As soon as she was done with the pencil, she threw it back into her bag and took out a few pastel paints and paint brushes.

"What are you painting?" Neville asked.

"The lake, and Hagrid's Hut," Mia said, squirting some into the cap of the paint. "I usually only draw with a pencil, but I want to try out painting as well."

"It looks great," Neville said, leaning over to take a closer look. "It's one of the best I've seen."

"It's not that great," Mia said, going a little pink. Neville just continued to stare and watch her work as Mia dipped her brush inside the paint and started moving it in careful and graceful strokes across the wad of paper, her eyes set and her focus on the work in front of her. After a little while she paused for a moment, muttering under breath, and then both she and Neville jumped when they heard a voice right next to them.

"Hi guys." Mia and Neville both turned around to see Jenna standing there, her cloak pulled tight against her and her hair whipping slightly due to the wind.

"Hi Jenna," Mia said. "What are you up to?"

"Well, I just um…"

Jenna had somewhat of a flustered expression, and a grin broke out on Mia's face.

"Were you looking for someone?" she asked slyly, making Jenna's face even redder. "A certain _red haired _someone?"

"No!" Jenna said too quickly. Neville looked downright confused.

"Maybe this person could be, say, kind of tall, with broad shoulders, have freckles, and have a passion for Quidditch and pranks?"' Mia continued, her grin growing bigger as Jenna's face resembled that of a fire engine.

"Who? Ron?" asked Neville. Mia burst into laughter, trying and failing to smother it behind her hand as Jenna glared at her.

"Mia!"

"Okay, okay," Mia gasped, taking a minute to calm herself. "Sorry Jenna, I couldn't help it. Fred's at practice with the team, they won't be done until later."

"Okay," said Jenna, still red in the face. "Do you guys want to head back inside? It's freezing out here."

"Sure," said Neville, and Mia nodded in agreement. After she had all her stuff packed away, Mia stood up, shouldered her bag, and set off with Neville and Jenna back to the castle. When they entered, Mia caught sight of Ginny walking up the staircase to the upper floors.

"Hi Ginny," Mia called. Ginny stopped walking, and her entire body seemed to tense up for a moment. She turned around to face them, and Mia was surprised to see that there were some feathers stuck to the front of her robes. There was also a small black book clutched in Ginny's hand, practically glued to her side. When Mia looked up at Ginny's face, she saw that she was still very pale, and she didn't look well at all.

"Ginny? Are you all right?" Mia asked, concern in her voice as they approached the first year.

"I'm okay Mia," Ginny answered in a low voice, staring down at herself. "I don't know where all these feathers came from though."

"You don't look well," Mia stated. "You might be getting that cold that's been spreading around. Why don't I take you to Madame Pomfrey for a Pepper-Up Potion?"

"Really Mia, I'm fine," Ginny said.

"Come on Ginny, it might make you feel better," Mia pressed. "At least do it to make Percy feel better, he's been worried about you."

Ginny looked reluctant, but she nodded, looking like a frightened and ill lost child. Mia was starting to grow concerned for her. When she had seen Ginny over the summer, she was shy, but vibrant, determined, and a feisty little girl who was a lot like her mother. But know, Ginny appeared so dazed and confused sometimes, as if she wasn't really sure of what was going on around her. Mia turned to Neville and Jenna.

"I'll see you guys later, I'm going to take Ginny to the hospital wing," said Mia. "Hermione and I are going to study in the library tomorrow, if you guys want you can join us."

"Thanks Mia," Neville said as Jenna smiled. Mia bid them both goodbye, then she and Ginny started walking up the staircase just as Jenna said, "Come on Neville, you can hang out with me and my friend Hannah Abbott if you want."

Mia and Ginny walked up the stairs, mostly in silence, and Ginny was dusting the feathers off of her robes. Once they were a floor from the hospital wing, Mia decided to break the silence.

"How's your first year going Ginny?" she asked.

"It's going fine," Ginny answered. "I met a girl in my year, her name's Luna and she seems nice."

"That's good," said Mia. "It's good you're making some friends."

"Luna's really the only one," Ginny said. "I don't really talk to anyone else. Did you make a lot of friends your first year?"

"Not a whole lot, but enough," Mia replied. "I met Jenna in Diagon Ally, and I had Harry with me from the beginning. I made friends with your brother on the train ride here, and that's where I met Neville. I made friends with Hermione early on, but Harry and Ron didn't become Hermione's friend until later on."

"How come?" asked Ginny.

"I'll tell you, as long as you don't tell your mom," Mia said. "I'd much rather like your brother to stay alive."

"My lips are sealed," Ginny said, smiling for the first time since they started walking. Mia told Ginny about the experience with the troll, and Ginny looked horrified yet impressed that they were able to take out a fully grown mountain troll with such a simple spell.

"That's amazing," Ginny breathed. "Harry and Ron were so brave to come after you guys."

"Well it definitely wasn't one of our most enjoyable experiences," Mia giggled. "But I was happy, because that's when we all became friends."

Ginny started up at her in admiration, and Mia smiled back at her, her eyes falling down to the book in her hand.

"What's that you've got there Ginny?" Mia asked curiously.

"Oh, this is my diary," Ginny said, holding the book close to her chest. Mia didn't know if she was imagining it, but Ginny seemed to get a little awkward and was holding the diary in a protective, vice-like grip, as if she were terrified of being parted with it.

"A diary?"

"Yeah, I got it over the summer," Ginny explained. "I love writing in it, it helps me think, and I can put anything into it."

"Some people like that, writing their thoughts onto paper, it's how they like to express themselves," Mia said wisely. "Just don't ever let Fred or George get a hold of it—I can't even begin to imagine the endless stream of blackmailing that could come from that."

Ginny giggled, and Mia was happy that she was able to make the little redhead feel better. They soon made it up to the hospital wing, and Madame Pomfrey wasted no time in setting Ginny down on the bed, handing her a bottle of Pepper-Up Potion. Mia giggled at the sight of steam coming out of Ginny's ears, saying it made it look like her entire head was on fire. The potion seemed to work, for Ginny immediately perked up, and with Madame's Pomfrey's permission, both girls left the ward and started making their way to the Gryffindor common room. Once they were there, they gave the Fat Lady the password and walked inside.

"Hey Mia, over here."

Mia looked over to see Ron, Harry, and Hermione all sitting down at one of the tables. She smiled at them and then turned to Ginny.

"Are you feeling better now Ginny?"

"A lot," Ginny replied with a smile. "I think I'll go up and lay down for a while."

"Good," said Mia. "I'll see you later, okay?"

Ginny nodded, and, with her diary still clutched against her chest, she crossed the room and jogged up the stairs to the girl's dormitories. Removing her cloak and scarf from her shoulders, Mia set her bag down on the floor and sat down at the table with her friends.

"Hi," she greeted them all. "How was practice Harry?"

"Not so good," Harry replied. "Wood's driving us to the limit, and to make it worse, Fred and George told us that the Slytherin's new broom will leave ours in the dust."

"Don't worry about the brooms Harry," said Mia. "It's like Hermione said, it takes talent to win the game, not the brooms they play on."

"I guess," he shrugged.

"Oh Mia, Harry was just telling us that he's going to a Deathday Party," Hermione said, her face glowing with interest.

"A Deathday Party?" Mia asked with an incredulous face. "How in the world did you get invited to one of those, Harry?"

Harry quickly told her about running into Sir Nick after Quidditch practice, how he helped Harry get out of detention with Filch, and how Harry had agreed to coming to his Deathday Party on Halloween.

"And he said you're all invited too, if you want to go," he finished.

"It would be interesting," Mia said thoughtfully. "Not too many living people get to go."

"I could understand why," said Ron. "I mean who in their right mind wants to celebrate the day they died?"

"Obviously Sir Nick," said Harry. "But that means we'll miss the feast though."

"Yeah, and we—wait, what?!" said Ron, whipping to face Harry with a look of absolute horror on his face. "We're missing the feast?!"

"I'm afraid so Ron," Mia said mournfully, patting his hand. "We're going to spend the evening talking to a bunch of dead people in the dungeons while everyone else will be enjoying the caramel apples and custard pie."

Ron groaned loudly and smacked his head against the table.

"Honestly Ron, is there a time when you're _not _thinking of food?" said Hermione exasperatedly. Ron's response was interrupted by Fred and George, who had seemed to feed some fireworks to a salamander and was now laughing as the poor creature zoomed around the common room, brightly colored sparks of light flying out of its mouth. Mia laughed as well as her and the others were showered with brilliant gold and purples stars and green jets of light that bounced off the walls. Percy ended up bellowing himself hoarse at Fred and George after the salamander ended up in the fireplace, wheezing out the last of the fireworks. By the end of the night, the poor lizard was still hiccupping sparks, and the twins were just talking about stuffing one in Snape's desk when both Mia and Hermione bid the boys goodnight before heading up to bed.

…

Soon enough, Halloween was upon them, and by that time, Mia was feeling sad that she wouldn't be going to the feast. Because of the incident with the troll, she and Hermione had missed it last year, and for the past week people have been talking excitedly about the dancing skeletons that Dumbledore had supposedly hired for the night. Just the thought of missing out on the fun and the food made Mia groan, making her sound like Ron. She could tell Harry was starting to regret his decision to go as well, but Hermione kept reminding him that he had promised Sir Nick that he would be there.

So now they were walking past the door into the Great Hall, where everyone was sitting and talking excitedly while they ate, and trotted down the stairs into the dark depths of the dungeons. The passageway leading to Sir Nick's party had been lined with long, thin, jet-black candles, all burning bright blue, casting a dim, ghostly light even over their own living faces. The temperature dropped with every step they took, and Mia, wishing she had brought her cloak, shivered violently as she wrapped her arms around herself. As they grew closer to the entrance, Mia heard a strange sound, like a thousand fingernails scraping an enormous blackboard, and it made her flinch.

"Is that supposed to be music?" Ron whispered. Mia shrugged, and when they turned around the next corner, they saw Sir Nick standing at a doorway hung with black velvet drapes.

"My dear friends," he said mournfully, bowing his head to them all. "Welcome, welcome…so pleased you could come…"

He swept off his plumed hat and bowed them inside. As soon as they stepped in, Mia gasped, her eyes going wide and the temporarily forgetting the coldness in her body.

The dungeon they were in was full of hundreds of pearly-white, translucent ghosts, mostly drifting around a crowded dance floor, waltzing to the dreadful, quavering sound of thirty musical saws, played by an orchestra on a raised, black-draped platform. A chandelier overhead blazed midnight-blue with a thousand more black candles, making the room unnaturally dark and dreary. It was a lot colder in here than out in the corridor, and Mia's shivering became worse, her breath coming out in sharp white clouds. She moved closer to Hermione, who also leaned in for the joined body heat.

"Shall we have a look around?" Harry asked.

"Careful not to walk through anyone," said Ron nervously. They set off around the edge of the dance floor, trying their best not to walk through any of the ghosts they came across. They passed a group of gloomy nuns, a ragged man wearing chains, and the Fat Friar, a cheerful Hufflepuff ghost, who was talking to a knight with an arrow sticking out of his forehead. The four of them kept walking around until Hermione suddenly stopped walking.

"Oh, no," she said. "Turn back, turn back, I don't want to talk to Moaning Myrtle—"

"Myrtle's here?" said Mia, looking around.

"Who?" said Ron as they backtracked quickly.

"She haunts one of the toilets in the girls' bathroom on the second floor," Mia explained.

"She haunts a toilet?"

"Yes. It's been out-of-order all year because she keeps having tantrums and flooding the place. I never went in there anyway if I could avoid it. It's awful trying to have a pee with her wailing at you—"

"Look, food!" said Ron, his eyes lighting up as he spotted a long table that was holding all kinds of platters. Feeling hungry, Mia walked on over to the table with the others, but as soon as they reached it, they stopped in their tracks, and Mia's mouth dropped open in horror. All along the table were mounds of rotten fish, charcoal cakes and bread, and moldy green cheese next to a huge cake in the shape of a tombstone, forming the words,

_SIR NICHOLAS DE MIMSY-PORPINGTON_

_DIED 31ST OCTOBER, 1492_

Mia's face scrunched up as she covered her nose with her hand, trying to block out the terrible smell as a portly ghost approached the table, crouched low, and walked through it, his mouth held wide so that it passed through one of the stinking salmon.

"Can you taste it if you walk though it?" Harry asked him.

"Almost," said the ghost sadly, and then he drifted away to speak to a ghost with an axe sticking out of his back.

"I expect they've let it rot to give it a stronger flavor," said Hermione, pinching her nose and leaning closer to look at the putrid haggis.

"Can we move? I feel sick," said Ron.

"I'm right there with you," said Mia, who was starting to feel extremely nauseated. As soon as they turned away from the food, they were approached by Peeves the Poltergeist, who was smiling in an unnatural, sickly sweet way.

"Hello, Peeves," said Harry cautiously.

"Nibbles?" he said, offering them a bowl of peanuts covered in fungus.

"No thanks," said Hermione while Mia shook her head.

"Heard you talking about poor Myrtle," said Peeves, shaking his head. "Rude you was about poor Myrtle." He took a deep breath and bellowed, "OI! MYRTLE!"

"Peeves, don't!" said Mia. "You'll make her really upset! You know what she's like."

"Please don't tell her what I said," Hermione whispered frantically. "I didn't mean it, I don't mind her—er, hello, Myrtle."

A small ghost of a girl had glided over. She had the saddest face Mia had ever seen, like someone had just died, and she stared at them all through thick glasses. Myrtle sniffed a little and rubbed at her eyes, as if she had just been crying.

"What?" she said sulkily.

"How are you, Myrtle?" said Hermione in a falsely bright voice. "It's nice to see you out of the toilet."

Myrtle sniffed, and Mia cut in once she saw Peeves grin.

"Um, Myrtle, these are our friends, Ron and Harry," she said hastily. "Guys this is Myrtle, she lives in the girl's bathroom."

"Uh, nice to meet you Mo—ugh, I mean Myrtle," Ron grunted after Mia stepped on his foot.

"Miss Granger was just talking about you," said Peeves slyly in Myrtle's ear. "Just saying—"

"Just saying—saying—how nice you look tonight," said Hermione, glaring at Peeves along with Mia while Myrtle eyed them suspiciously.

"No—honestly—didn't I just say how nice Myrtle's looking?" said Hermione, nudging Harry and Ron painfully in the ribs.

"Oh, yeah—"

"She did—"

"Don't lie to me," Myrtle gasped, tears now flooding down her face. "D'you think I don't know what people call me behind my back? Fat Myrtle! Ugly Myrtle! Miserable, moaning, moping Myrtle!"

"You've forgotten pimply," Peeves hissed in her ear.

Myrtle burst into anguished sobs , covering her face with her hands and flying out of the dungeon. Peeves shot after her, pelting her with moldy peanuts, yelling, "Pimply! Pimply!"

"Oh, dear," said Hermione sadly.

"That was just horrible," said Mia. "He knows how sensitive Myrtle is…"

"More like mental," Ron muttered, causing Mia to throw him a sharp glare. The rest of the party was slightly more eventful. Sir Nick came around and started introducing them to some of his friends, one of which, the Wailing Widow stroke up a small conversation with Mia, as they were both from Kent. They ran into the Fat Friar again and was talking pleasantly with him when the members of Headless Hunt made an appearance, much to Nick's displeasure. It was then that they had met Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore, who, in Mia's opinion, was a bit of a show-off, and kept saying loudly that Sir Nick still had his head hanging in place, and could not join the others in the Hunt. As Nick proceeded to deliver his speech, Sir Patrick cause a distraction by playing hickey with his head, much to the amusement of the crowd, and the speech was quickly forgotten. Mia felt bad for Sir Nick and wished there was something she could have done to make him feel better, but at that time, she felt as if her toes were going to fall off from the cold, and she was shaking uncontrollably now, despite being huddled close to Hermione. It was agreed that it was time to leave, and Mia, not wanting to be rude, quickly walked over to Nick to say goodbye.

"Hey Nick," she said, trying to keep her teeth from chattering. "It's getting a little late, my friends and I are going to head on out. Thank you so much for inviting us to the party, it was very lovely."

"Thanks you very much for attending," said Sir Nick, slight bitterness in his voice as he glanced over at Sir Patrick.

"Don't worry about it Nick," Mia said, wishing she could pat his shoulder. "You're still the best ghost Hogwarts has ever seen—you don't need the Headless Hunt to be great."

Sir Nick visibly beamed down at Mia, giving her a grateful smile.

"I sure do appreciate that, Miss Thatcher," he said, bowing. "Now, you and your friends run along now."

"Goodnight," Mia said before running over back to the others, who were waiting by the door. The four of them practically ran through the corridors out of the dungeons, taking the steps two at a time and trying to escape the bitter cold as quick as possible.

"Pudding might not be finished yet," said Ron hopefully, leading the way toward the steps to the entrance hall. For once, Mia was thinking along the same lines, as her stomach was nearly rumbling with hunger and her mouth was drooling with the thought those sweet candy apples and cinnamon muffins that were waiting for them in the Great Hall. They continued running up the stairs until Harry came to a sudden and abrupt halt, making Mia crash into him from behind.

"Harry, what are you doing?" Mia grunted as she bent down to rub the foot that she had stubbed. Harry didn't answer her—instead he stood as still as a statue and it looked as if he were trying to hear something.

"Harry?" said Ron.

"It's that voice again," Harry said to him. "Be quiet a minute—listen!"

Mia, Ron and Hermione just stood there, not knowing what to do except watch Harry as he listened to this mysterious voice. Mia tried, but she couldn't hear a thing except her steady breathing. What in the world was Harry doing? She didn't think about this for long, for in the next second, Harry gave an unexpected start, making her jump.

"This way!" he shouted, and then he began to run, up the stairs, into the entrance hall.

"Harry! Harry wait, not so fast!" Hermione said as her, Ron and Mia raced after him, each one utterly clueless. Why were they running? What were they chasing? Mia wanted to ask Harry, but he was a good distance ahead of them, and Mia internally cursed his speed. They all ran past the doors leading to the Great Hall and up the marble staircase onto the first floor, where Harry seemed to have slowed down at last.

"Harry, what're we —"

"SHH!"

It was once again silent as they watched him, and after a few seconds, Harry's face twisted into one of horror, and his face paled dramatically.

"It's going to kill someone!" he shouted.

"What?" Mia squeaked as Harry took off once again. "Harry, _wait!_"

They followed him up the next flight of stairs onto the second floor and by the time they stopped again, Mia was gasping for breath, clutching her side.

"Harry, what exactly are we doing?" asked Mia, panting. "What is this voice that you're hearing?"

Before Harry could answer her, Hermione gave a sudden gasp, pointing down the corridor.

"Look!"

Mia looked up to see that something was shining on the wall ahead. They approached it slowly, squinting through the darkness. As soon as they were in front of it, Hermione gasped again, and Mia instinctively took hold of Harry's robes. Foot-high words had been daubed on the wall between two windows, shimmering in the light cast by the flaming torches in what looked suspiciously like blood.

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED.

ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE

"What's that thing—hanging underneath?" said Ron, a slight quiver in his voice. Mia took a closer look at the thing that was hanging from one of the torch brackets, careful not to step in the large puddle of water underneath it, and she let out a frightened sound, her stomach twisting.

"It—it's Mrs. Norris!" she gasped in a whisper, her eyes wide as she stared at the immobilized cat, whose eyes were wide and body was stiff. "Something's happened to her!"

"Let's get out of here," Ron said, taking Harry by the arm while Hermione took Mia's.

"Shouldn't we try and help—" Harry began awkwardly.

"Trust me," said Ron. "We don't want to be found here."

As soon as the words came from his mouth, Mia heard a rumble, as though of distant thunder, and before she knew it, students were starting to fill the corridors from all sides, all talking after having finished a hearty feast. From both end of the corridor came the sound of hundreds of feet climbing the stairs, and in the next moment, students were crashing into the passage from both ends. The chatter, bustle and noise died suddenly as the people in front spotted the hanging cat. Mia, Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood alone, in the middle of the corridor, as silence fell among the mass of students pressing forward to see the grisly sight. There was absolute silence for a moment until someone in the crowd shouted out.

"Enemies of the Heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!"

It was Draco Malfoy. He had pushed to the front of the crowd, and he was grinning widely at the sight of the hanging cat. At his words, a faint whispering starting to spread among the students as they all stared at Mia and the others. She moved closer to Harry just as another voice shouted through the corridor, and this one sent a feeling of dread down her spine.

"What's going on here? What's going on?"

Through the crowd came Filch himself, pushing the other students aside to see what was going on. The minute his eyes fell on Mrs. Norris, Filch clutched his face in horror, his eyes going wide.

"My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?" he shrieked. He looked wildly around until his eyes landed on Harry, who was standing closest to Mrs. Norris, and Mia could have sworn she saw his pupils dilate in anger.

"You!" he screeched, charging towards Harry. "You! You've murdered my cat! You've killed her!"

"He didn't do anything!" Mia exclaimed, steeping in front of Harry to block him from Filch's path. "He never touched her!"

"I'll kill you!" Filch yelled. "I'll—"

"Argus!"

Mia let out a relieved breath as Dumbledore arrived, followed by a number of other teachers. In seconds, he had swept past Harry, Mia, Ron, and Hermione and detached Mrs. Norris from the torch bracket.

"Come with me, Argus," he said to Filch. "You, too, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, and Miss Thatcher."

"My office is nearest, Headmaster, just upstairs—please feel free—" Lockhart piped up eagerly.

"Thank you, Gilderoy," said Dumbledore. The silent crowd parted to let them pass and Lockhart, looking excited and important, hurried after Dumbledore, as did Professors McGonagall and Snape, followed by Mia, Harry, Ron and Hermione. Mia stood close to Harry, who was looking very nervous and worried, and took hold of his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Don't worry Harry, you didn't do anything wrong," Mia said quietly, trying to reassure him. Harry didn't look at her, but he squeezed back, letting her know he appreciated her support. The group walked up the next set of stairs with Dumbledore in the lead, and soon enough they came upon Lockhart's office. The minute they stepped inside, Mia wanted to gag. The office was filled to the brink with posters and pictures of Lockhart himself, each one smiling and flipping their hair back like some sort of Muggle model. Once they were inside, Dumbledore placed Mrs. Norris down on top of the desk and began to examine her, while Filch shakily sat down in the closest chair, his head in his hands, and sobbing hard. Mia couldn't help but feel bad for him—Mrs. Norris was the one thing Filch cared for more than anything else in this world, and she couldn't imagine how he must feel. If anything had ever happened to Sapphire, she would probably in a similar state. While Dumbledore checked over Mrs. Norris, Lockhart was walking around, making suggestions as to what it was that could have killed her, each one more annoying and insensitive than the last. Finally after doing several tests, Dumbledore straightened up and turned to Filch.

"She's not dead Argus," he said softly.

"Not dead?" choked Filch, looking through his fingers at Mrs. Norris. "But why's she all—all stiff and frozen?"

"She has been Petrified," said Dumbledore. "But how, I cannot say…"

"Ask him!" shrieked Filch, turning his blotched and tearstained face to Harry.

"No second year could have done this," said Dumbledore firmly. "It would take Dark Magic of the most advanced—"

"He did it, he did it!" Filch spat, his face purpling. "You saw what he wrote on the wall! He found—in my office—he knows I'm a—I'm a—he knows I'm a Squib!"

Mia was a little surprised at this new bit of information, and her mouth dropped open slightly. Filch was a Squib? Well, she guessed that made sense in a way. She has never seen Filch do any type of magic before, and it could be a possible reason to way he was resentful towards the students. Another feeling of sympathy came over Mia as she watched Filch. He must have had a hard life growing up as a Squib, as most are looked down upon in the wizarding community.

"I never touched Mrs. Norris!" Harry said loudly. "And I don't even know what a Squib is."

"Rubbish!" snarled Filch. "He saw my Kwikspell letter!"

"If I might speak, Headmaster," said Snape from the shadows. "Potter and his friends may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Mia felt as if she had just been struck by lightning and she was pretty sure the world was ending. Snape was _defending Harry? _

"But we do have a set of suspicious circumstances here."

_Ah, and there's the Snape we all know and love, _Mia thought as she discreetly rolled her eyes.

"Why was Potter in the upstairs corridor at all? Why wasn't he and his friends at the Halloween feast?" asked Snape.

"We were at Sir Nick's Deathday Party," Mia replied immediately. "We were down in the dungeons, and there were hundreds of ghosts who can tell you we were there."

"But why not join the feast afterward?" said Snape, his black eyes glittering in the candlelight. "Why go up to that corridor?"

Mia bit her tongue while Ron and Hermione looked at Harry.

"Because—because—because we were tired and wanted to go to bed," he said.

"Without any supper?" said Snape, a triumphant smile flickering across his gaunt face. "I didn't think ghosts provided food fit for living people at their parties."

"We weren't hungry," said Ron loudly as his stomach gave a huge rumble. Mia wanted to face palm herself.

"I suggest, Headmaster, that Potter is not being entirely truthful," he said with a nasty grin. "It might be a good idea if he were deprived of certain privileges until he is ready to tell us the whole story. I personally feel he should be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch team until he is ready to be honest."

"What?! You can't—"

Mia's rant was put to a stop by Ron stepping on her foot and Hermione covering her mouth, hissing at her to be quiet.

"Really, Severus," said Professor McGonagall sharply. "I see no reason to stop the boy playing Quidditch. This cat wasn't hit over the head with a broomstick. There is no evidence at all that Potter has done anything wrong."

While Mia was mumbling behind Hermione's hand, Dumbledore was giving Harry a searching look, as if he were trying to examine him thoroughly with his twinkling blue eyes.

"Innocent until proven guilty, Severus," he said firmly.

"My cat has been Petrified!" Filch shrieked, his eyes popping. "I want to see some punishment!"

"We will be able to cure her, Argus," said Dumbledore patiently. "Professor Sprout recently managed to procure some Mandrakes. As soon as they have reached their full size, I will have a potion made that will revive Mrs. Norris."

"I'll make it," Lockhart butted in. "I must have done it a hundred times. I could whip up a Mandrake Restorative Draught in my sleep—"

"Excuse me," said Snape icily. "But I believe I am the Potions master at this school."

There was a very awkward pause in which Hermione finally removed her hand from Mia's mouth.

"You may go," Dumbledore said to Mia and the others. They didn't need telling twice, for they all scrambled out of the office and out into the corridor. However, instead of heading up to the common room, they turned into an empty classroom and closed the door quietly behind them. Harry made sure the door was securely locked before turning to face them.

"D'you think I should have told them about that voice I heard?" he asked them.

"No," said Ron, without hesitation. "Hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world."

"You do believe me, don't you?" said Harry uncertainly.

"'Course I do," said Ron quickly. "But—you must admit it's weird…"

"I know it's weird," said Harry. "The whole thing's weird. What was that writing on the wall about? The Chamber Has Been Opened…what's that supposed to mean?"

"You know, it rings a sort of bell," said Ron slowly. "I think someone told me a story about a secret chamber at Hogwarts once…might've been Bill…"

"And what on earth's a Squib?" said Harry.

Ron stifled a snigger and Mia glared at him for it.

"Ron, that's not something to laugh at!" she said firmly.

"I know that—but it's Filch," he said. Mia glared at him some more before looking at Harry.

"A Squib is someone who was born into a wizarding family but hasn't got any magic powers," she explained. "Kind of the opposite of Muggle-born wizards, but Squibs are quite unusual."

"If Filch's trying to learn magic from a Kwikspell course, I reckon he must be a Squib," Ron added with a smile. "It would explain a lot. Like why he hates students so much. He's bitter."

Mia was about to scold him again but at that moment a clock chimed somewhere.

"Midnight," said Harry. "We'd better get to bed before Snape comes along and tries to frame us for something else."

With that being said, Mia, Harry, Ron and Hermione all left the classroom and went off to Gryffindor tower, with Mia's head spinning. What exactly had happened tonight? She knew it was something big—she had caught a glimpse of Dumbledore and McGonagall's faces when they had seen the writing on the wall, and they looked shocked, worried, and even a little scared. As if they had seen something like it before. Later on, as she was lying down in bed in her pajamas and staring out the window, one questions kept ringing through her mind: What is the Chamber of Secrets?

**Rate and review please!**


	8. Old Legends and Crazy Ideas

**Hello readers. Well here you go, here's chapter eight, and I hope you all like it. I feel like things have been dragging out a little bit, as nothing very exciting has happened yet, except for the attack on Mrs. Norris. I'll trying to come up with some more ideas that'll add some excitement and interest to the future chapters.**

**Any questions or concerns please don't hesitate to ask. And please review, I love to see if you liked it or not, and some of it gives me some great ideas! Well, I'll leave you to it now, hope you like it. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter are not mine. **

Chapter Eight: Old Legends and Crazy Ideas

HPOV 

For a few days, all the school could talk about was the attack on Mrs. Norris, and the mysterious writing on the wall. Filch, along with trying to scrub off the words from the wall, was also in a distraught and even fouler mood than ever before. He was taking the attack on his beloved pet very hard, and when he wasn't guarding the scene of the crime, he was skulking red-eyed through the corridors, lunging out at unsuspecting students and trying to put them in detention for things like "breathing loudly" and "looking happy." Harry couldn't help but feel a tiny bit sorry for Filch—although he hated and resented nearly everyone else, everyone knew how much he loved his cat. However, Filch wasn't the only one affected by the attack on Mrs. Norris. Ginny Weasley seemed very disturbed by the whole thing, and every time she passed by the shining red words, she would turn a little pale and a scared look would come across her face. Ron tried cheering her up some, but it didn't really work out.

"But you haven't really got to know Mrs. Norris. Honestly, we're much better off without her. Stuff like this doesn't often happen at Hogwarts, they'll catch the maniac who did it and have him out of here in no time. I just hope he's got time to petrify Filch before he's expelled. I'm only joking—" Ron added hastily as Ginny blanched. Mia face palmed at this while Hermione straight up whacked Ron in the back of the head with her book.

The attack had also had an effect on Hermione and Mia. Ever since that night, both of them had been spending more time than usual in the library, searching through mounds of books, and whenever he or Ron asked what they were up to, Mia, so engrossed in her reading, would give vague, unhelpful answers, while Hermione normally didn't respond at all. Eventually Harry and Ron gave up trying to get answers out of them, figuring they would tell them when they were ready, whenever that was. It wasn't until the following Wednesday that they were finally able to get some answers. Harry was just on his way up the staircase to head to the library where he was meeting up with the others, and when he came up to the corridor, he saw Justin Finch-Fletchley, the Hufflepuff boy from Herbology, and Jenna coming towards him. Harry smiled and had just opened his mouth to say hello when Justin caught sight of him, turned abruptly, and sped off in the opposite direction.

"Justin! Oh for Merlin's sake," Jenna groaned, staring after him.

"Did I do something wrong?" Harry asked her.

"No, you didn't," said Jenna, looking a little nervous out of place. "He's just being stupid, that's all."

Something in the way Jenna spoke made Harry feel uncertain.

"Jenna, is there something I need to know?" Harry said. Jenna sighed.

"Justin and I have been hearing some stupid rumors," she explained. "Some people think that you did attack Mrs. Norris, and that you're this 'Heir of Slytherin.' I told them that that was rubbish, but some others have their doubts, especially Muggleborns."

"Why would Muggleborns be afraid of me?" asked Harry in surprise.

"I don't remember the whole story, but my uncle used to tell me and Derrick about the Chamber of Secrets when we were little," said Jenna. "All I remember is that the goal of the Heir of Slytherin is to get rid of all the Muggleborns from the school, because they were impure. But I know you Harry, you're too good for that—and you're friends with Hermione and Mia, so I suppose you're all right."

Harry laughed a little at that and smiled.

"Thanks Jenna," he said. "I have to get to the library, the others are waiting for me. I'll see you around?"

"Sure," said Jenna. "I have to go and find Justin anyway. Bye Harry."

After Harry and Jenna parted, he continued his way on to his destination. Once he came to the library, he found Ron sitting in the back of it, measuring his History of Magic homework.

"I don't believe it, I'm still eight inches short," said Ron furiously. "And Hermione's done four feet, seven inches and her writing's tiny."

"Where is she?" asked Harry.

"Somewhere over there with Mia," said Ron, pointing along the shelves. "Looking for another book. I think they're trying to read the whole library before Christmas. Harry, have you finished yours? Can I copy some of it?"

"Sure," Harry said quietly, checking to make sure that Hermione and Mia wasn't close by, knowing that they would skim him alive if they saw Ron copying off of him.

"Thanks mate," Ron said gratefully, taking the roll of parchment Harry handed to him and immediately set to work. While he was writing, Harry told him about seeing Jenna and Justin Finch-Fletchley out in the corridor, and how Justin ran away the moment he saw him.

"Dunno why you care. I thought he was a bit of an idiot," said Ron. "All that junk about Lockhart being so great—"

Ron was cut off from his sentence because at that moment, Mia and Hermione came into view and were heading towards their table. Ron hastily rolled up Harry's parchment and gave it back to him just in time before the girls took their seats. As Mia sat down next to Ron, Harry saw her give him a smirk and whisper, "You're not as slick as you think you are, Ronald Weasley." Ron's eyes went wide and Harry had to suppress a chuckle.

"All the copies of _Hogwarts, A History_ have been taken out," Hermione said irritably. "And there's a two-week waiting list. I wish I hadn't left my copy at home, but I couldn't fit it in my trunk with all the Lockhart books."

"Same here," said Mia scowling, as if Lockhart had somehow planned this.

"Why do you want it?" said Harry.

"The same reason everyone else wants it," said Hermione. "To read up on the legend of the Chamber of Secrets."

"What exactly is that?" said Harry.

"That's just it. I can't remember," said Hermione, biting her lip. "And I can't find the story anywhere else."

"Well, I ran into Jenna before I came here, and she didn't know what the Chamber was, but she did tell me about the Heir of Slytherin. Apparently it's the heir's job to rid the school of all Muggleborns."

"What?" said Mia. "Why would someone want to do that?"

"Remember what Hagrid told us the day Malfoy called us Mudbloods?" said Hermione. "Most Purbloods think that Muggleborns are beneath them and don't deserve to learn magic. Maybe this heir is a Pureblood—"

"Hermione, let me read your composition," said Ron desperately, checking his watch.

"No, I won't," said Hermione sternly. "You've had ten days to finish it—"

"I only need another two inches, come on—"

Mia looked like she was trying hard not to laugh at Ron and Hermione as they went at it, and she glanced over at Harry, grinning. Remembering the bet they had made in first year came to mind, and Harry grinned back at her. At that moment the bell rang, and the four of them gathered their things, leaving the library and heading off to History of Magic, with Ron and Hermione still bickering. Mia walked alongside Harry, shaking her head at her friends.

"You really think you're going to win the bet?" Harry asked.

"I know I am," Mia replied with a devious smile. "There's no question when it comes to those two—it's fate."

"You're mental," Harry said. "But you wouldn't be you if you weren't."

"Should I take that as a compliment?" Mia asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because if not, I have two faithful prankster twins who obeys my every command, and I'm pretty sure they would be more than willing to cook up something nice for you Mr. Potter."

"Is that a threat Miss Thatcher?" Harry said, raising his own eyebrow.

"Think of it more as a promise," Mia said with a grin. Harry laughed, shaking his head, and he put his arm around Mia as they kept on walking to class.

History of Magic was the dullest subject on their schedule. Professor Binns, who taught it, was their only ghost teacher, and the most exciting thing that ever happened in his classes was his entering the room through the blackboard. Today was as boring as ever, and the minute Professor Binns started class, he began to talk, and talk, and _talk. _Harry could never focus in this class, and Ron usually could never stay awake. Mia and Hermione were the only ones who really attempted to take notes, and Harry just couldn't understand how they could not want to sleep through Professor Binn's slow, monotone voice as it drifted throughout the room in a lazy stupor. He had been speaking for just half an hour when something happened that had never happened before—Hermione put up her hand.

Professor Binns, glancing up in the middle of a deadly dull lecture on the International Warlock Convention of 1289, looked amazed. As far as anyone knew, no one had ever raised a hand in his class before nor have they shown enough interest to do so.

"Miss—er—?"

"Granger, Professor. I was wondering if you could tell us anything about the Chamber of Secrets," said Hermione.

Dean Thomas, who had been sitting with his mouth hanging open, gazing out of the window, jerked out of his trance. Lavender Brown's head came up off her arms and Neville Longbottom's elbow slipped off his desk. Harry immediately perked up to his full attention and Mia lightly punched Ron on the arm, waking him up with a snort. Professor Binns stared at Hermione, as if he didn't fully understand what she was asking.

"My subject is History of Magic," he said after a short moment's silence. "I deal with facts, Miss Granger, not myths and legends. Now, in September of that year, a subcommittee of Sardinian sorcerers—"

Professor Binns was cut off yet again by another hand, this time belonging to Mia.

"Miss—?"

"Thatcher, sir. Please, professor, don't legends always have a basis in fact?" Mia asked. Professor Binns was looking at her in such amazement, and Harry couldn't really blame him. This was probably the first time anyone had ever spoken out in his classroom. To have not one, but two students do it in the same class period, must have been a new record.

"Well," said Professor Binns slowly. "Yes, one could argue that, I suppose. However, the legend of which you speak is such a very sensational, even ludicrous tale—"

But the whole class was now hanging on Professor Binns's every word. He looked dimly at them all, every face turned to his. Harry could tell he was completely thrown by such an unusual show of interest.

"Oh, very well," he said. "Let me see…the Chamber of Secrets. You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago—the precise date is uncertain—by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age. The four school Houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They built this castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people, and witches and wizards suffered much persecution. For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them to the castle to be educated. But then disagreements sprang up between them. A rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others. Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy. After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school."

It was at this point that Professor Binns took a pause, staring around at them.

"Reliable historical sources tell us this much," he continued. "But these honest facts have been obscured by the fanciful legend of the Chamber of Secrets. The story goes that Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing. Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic."

There was silence as he finished telling the story but it was not the dull and sleepy silence that usually followed his lecture. Everyone was listening in with keen ears, and some even look a bit frightened. Harry couldn't blame them. It surprised him that such an intolerance for Muggleborns started way back to the first days of Hogwarts. And the legend of a secret chamber built by Slytherin created an uneasy and foreboding feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"The whole thing is arrant nonsense, of course," Professor Binns said. "Naturally, the school has been searched for evidence of such a chamber, many times, by the most learned witches and wizards. It does not exist. A tale told to frighten the gullible."

"Sir—what exactly do you mean by the 'horror within' the Chamber?" asked Mia tentatively.

"That is believed to be some sort of monster, which the Heir of Slytherin alone can control," said Professor Binns in his dry, reedy voice. "This monster was supposed to be how the Heir of Slytherin would rid the school of Muggleborns."

The class exchanged nervous looks while Harry looked over at Mia and Hermione in front of him. A knot was starting to form in his stomach at the thought of either one of them getting hurt.

"I tell you, the thing does not exist," said Professor Binns, shuffling his notes. "There is no Chamber and no monster."

"But, sir," said Seamus Finnigan. "If the Chamber can only be opened by Slytherin's true heir, no one else would be able to find it, would they?"

"Nonsense, O'Flaherty," said Professor Binns in an aggravated tone. "If a long succession of Hogwarts headmasters and headmistresses haven't found the thing—"

"But, Professor," piped up Parvati Patil, "you'd probably have to use Dark Magic to open it—".

"Just because a wizard doesn't use Dark Magic doesn't mean he can't, Miss Pennyfeather," snapped Professor Binns. "I repeat, if the likes of Dumbledore—"

"But maybe you've got to be related to Slytherin, so Dumbledore couldn't—" began Dean Thomas, but Professor Binns had had enough.

"That will do," he said sharply. "It is a myth! It does not exist! There is not a shred of evidence that Slytherin ever built so much as a secret broom cupboard! I regret telling you such a foolish story! We will return, if you please, to history, to solid, believable, verifiable _fact!_"

Not another word was said as Professor Binns went back to lecturing, and the class easily fell into its regular stupor. However, Harry couldn't get what Professor Binns had just said out of his head. If this chamber was somehow real, and if there was some sort of monster, then there was a great possibility that Hermione and Mia were in danger. He gripped his quill a little tighter than necessary and frowned slightly at the desk in front of him. Legend or no legend, Harry wasn't going to let anything happen to his friends. The next ten minutes went by with Harry idly taking notes, when suddenly a small paper bird came out of nowhere and flew gracefully onto his desk. Having a good idea what it was, Harry opened the bird and saw a note scribbled inside.

_**Are you all right Harry? You looked really strange for a moment…**_

_** MT **_

Harry glanced up and saw Mia taking notes next to Hermione. But he knew she was waiting for a reply. He dipped his quill into his ink and wrote back.

_**I'm all right, just not too sure what to make of this story about the Chamber of Secrets. Do you think that it's real?**_

Harry quietly remolded the bird, and then enchanted it to fly over to Mia and Hermione's desk, where it landed on top of her notes. He saw her scan over it, and in less than two minutes she had it floating back over to him.

_**I'm not sure, but it definitely has people worried. I can't blame them though. There's a supposed monster going around that's trying to get rid of all Muggleborns—who wouldn't be worried?**_

Harry was going to reply, but at that moment the bell rang, signaling the end of class. Everyone gathered all of their things and started heading out into the hallway, stuffing his books in his bag, Harry stood up and left the room with Ron, Hermione, and Mia in tow.

"I always knew Salazar Slytherin was a twisted old loony," Ron said. "But I never knew he started all this pure-blood stuff. I wouldn't be in his house if you paid me. Honestly, if the Sorting Hat had tried to put me in Slytherin, I would have got the train straight back home…"

Hermione nodded fervently, but Harry didn't say anything because stomach had just dropped unpleasantly. Harry had never told anyone that the Sorting Hat had seriously considered putting him in Slytherin, not even Mia. What would they say if he did tell them? Would they judge him? He remembered vividly how he had pleaded not to be put into Slytheirn, having already heard of its dark reputation, and it was only then that the Sorting Hat had decided to place him into Gryffindor. It was something that still bothered him, knowing how close he had been to being placed in the very same house as Lord Voldemort, and it sickened him—he wanted to prove that he was nothing like him. As they were shunted along in the corridor, he saw Colin Creevey go past them, fighting his way over.

"Hiya, Harry!"

"Hullo, Colin," said Harry automatically.

"Harry—Harry—a boy in my class has been saying you're—"

Harry never heard what Colin was going to say, because he was so small he couldn't fight against the tide of people bearing him toward the Great Hall. He heard a quick, "See you, Harry!" and he was gone.

"What's a boy in his class saying about you?" Hermione wondered.

"That I'm Slytherin's heir, I expect," said Harry, his stomach dropping another inch or so as he suddenly remembered the way Justin Finch-Fletchley had run away from him at lunchtime.

"What? Don't be ridiculous Harry," said Mia. "How could people think that you are the Heir of Slytherin? You'd probably have to be some sort of relation, and you're not."

"I don't know anything about my dad's side of the family though," Harry pointed out.

"Harry, I know you," Mia argued fiercely. "You're a good person, you have a good heart, and you're friends with me and Hermione for goodness sake! Why would you want to go running around attacking Muggleborns with a monster? It's stupid to even think about! Besides there are plenty other people who might somehow be related to Slytherin anyway."

"So d'you guys really think there's a Chamber of Secrets?" Ron asked.

"I don't know," Hermione said, frowning. "Dumbledore couldn't cure Mrs. Norris, and that makes me think that whatever attacked her might not be—well—human."

As Hermione spoke, they turned a corner and found themselves at the end of the very corridor where the attack had happened. The scene was just as it had been that night, except that there was no stiff cat hanging from the torch bracket, and an empty chair stood against the wall bearing the message "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened," where Filch has been keeping guard. Mia gave a tiny shudder.

"It feels so weird being here," she said. "Maybe we should go."

"Can't hurt to have a poke around," said Harry, dropping his bag and getting to his hands and knees so that he could crawl along, searching for clues. Mia still looked unsure, but after an encouraging nod from Ron, she and Hermione also started looking around. While they were searching, Harry noticed some scorch marks along the ground while Hermione found something even more interesting. She pointed out a group of spiders scurrying around each other, fighting to get through a crack in the window that led outside. Harry and the girls inspected it carefully while Ron, looking pale and a little sick, backed away from the window and refused to come forward. As it turns out, he was deathly afraid of spiders, and nothing they said could make him come any closer. Seeing how distressed he was, Harry mentioned the water that was on the floor the night Mrs. Norris was attacked, and Ron said that it came from a door that was a little off to the left from the words on the wall. At first he was hesitant, seeing as it was a girl's bathroom, but Mia simply rolled her eyes and pushed him inside.

"Relax Ron," she said. "This is Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, hardly anyone ever comes in here."

"Besides you went in a girls' toilet last Halloween." Harry said grinning as he followed them inside.

"That was different," Ron said, grinning now too. "If we had just left Mia and Hermione in there to get clobbered I'd never hear the end of your moping."

"Glad to know you care so much for us Ron," said Mia, giving him an extra shove so she could shut the door behind them.

It was the gloomiest, most depressing bathroom Harry had ever set foot in. Under a large, cracked, and spotted mirror were a row of chipped sinks. The floor was damp and reflected the dull light given off by the stubs of a few candles, burning low in their holders; the wooden doors to the stalls were flaking and scratched and one of them was dangling off its hinges. As they walked, Hermione put her fingers to her lips and set off toward the end stall with Mia. When they reached it she said, "Hello, Myrtle, how are you?"

Moaning Myrtle was floating above the tank of the toilet, picking a spot on her chin and looking extremely miserable. She sniffed a little as they entered, and then looked over to Harry and Ron.

"This is a girls' bathroom," she said, eyeing them suspiciously. "They are not girls."

"No," Hermione agreed. "I just wanted to show them how er—nice it is in here."

"Don't think that will work Mione," Mia breathed.

"Ask her if she saw anything," Harry mouthed at Hermione.

"What are you whispering?" said Myrtle, staring at him.

"Nothing," said Harry quickly. "We wanted to ask—"

"I wish people would stop talking behind my back!" said Myrtle, in a voice choked with tears. "I do have feelings, you know, even if I am dead—"

"Myrtle, no one wants to upset you," said Hermione. "Harry only—"

"No one wants to upset me! That's a good one!" howled Myrtle. "My life was nothing but misery at this place and now people come along ruining my death!"

"We're really sorry for hurting your feelings Myrtle," Mia said quickly and gently. "We wanted to ask you if you've seen anything funny lately, because a cat was attacked right outside your front door on Halloween. We would really appreciate it if you could help us. Did you see anything that night?"

"I wasn't paying attention," said Myrtle. "Peeves upset me so much I came in here and tried to kill myself. Then, of course, I remembered that I'm—that I'm—"

"Already dead?" said Ron.

"Ron, that's not helping!" Mia hissed as Myrtle gave a tragic sob, rose up in the air, turned over, and dived headfirst into the toilet, splashing water all over them and vanishing from sight.

"Nice going," said Mia.

"It's not my fault she's an oversensitive lunatic," said Ron.

"Come on, let's just go," said Harry. The four of them walked out of the bathroom in single file, with Harry being the last one out. He had barely closed the door when a loud voice made them all jump.

"RON!"

It was Percy Weasley. He had stopped dead at the head of the stairs upon seeing them, an expression of complete shock on his face.

"That's a girls' bathroom!" he gasped. "What were you—?"

"Just having a look around," Ron shrugged. "Clues, you know—"

"Get—away—from—there—" Percy said, striding toward them and ushering them along down the corridor. "Don't you care what this looks like? Coming back here while everyone's at dinner—"

"Why shouldn't we be here?" said Ron hotly. "Listen, we never laid a finger on that cat!"

"That's what I told Ginny," said Percy fiercely. "But she still seems to think you're going to be expelled, I've never seen her so upset, crying her eyes out, you might think of her, all the first years are thoroughly overexcited by this business—"

"You don't care about Ginny," said Ron, whose ears were now reddening. "You're just worried I'm going to mess up your chances of being Head Boy—"

"Five points from Gryffindor!" Percy said tersely, fingering his prefect badge. "And I hope it teaches you a lesson! No more detective work, or I'll write to Mum!"

…..

Later on that night, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Mia were all sitting in the common room working on their homework. Ron was still angry about his fight with Percy, and he was so distracted that he kept making ink blotches on his parchment. At one point he even slammed his book shut in frustration, and Hermione followed suit.

"Who can it be, though?" she said in a quiet voice. "Who'd want to frighten all the Squibs and Muggleborns out of Hogwarts?"

"Let's think," said Ron in mock puzzlement. "Who do we know who thinks Muggleborns are scum?"

He looked at Hermione and Hermione looked back, unconvinced.

"If you're talking about Malfoy—"

"Of course I am!" said Ron. "You heard him—'You'll be next, Mudbloods!—come on, you've only got to look at his foul rat face to know it's him."

"Malfoy, the Heir of Slytherin?" said Mia skeptically. "Come on guys, I know he's a spoiled, rotten and arrogant piece of trash, and none of us like him in the slightest, but I can't see him being the heir."

"It could be possible Mia. Look at his family," said Harry, closing his books, too. "The whole lot of them have been in Slytherin for centuries, and he's always boasting about it. They could easily be Slytherin's descendants. His father's definitely evil enough."

"They could've had the key to the Chamber of Secrets for centuries!" said Ron. "Handing it down, father to son…"

"Ron, if it's been a tradition to hand it down from father to son, they why haven't they opened it before? Why wait until now?" asked Mia

"It could still be possible," said Hermione cautiously.

"I just don't see it," Mia stubbornly argued. "Malfoy's a right prat, but I can't see him going to this extreme…"

"Even if he somehow isn't, he might know who it is. But how do we prove it?" said Harry darkly.

"There might be a way," said Hermione slowly, dropping her voice. "Of course, it would be difficult. And dangerous, very dangerous. We'd be breaking about fifty school rules, I expect—"

"If, in a month or so, you feel like explaining, you will let us know, won't you?" said Ron irritably.

"All right," said Hermione coldly. "What we'd need to do is to get inside the Slytherin common room and ask Malfoy a few questions without him realizing it's us."

"But that's impossible," Harry said as Ron laughed.

"No, it's not," said Hermione. "All we'd need would be some Polyjuice Potion."

"What?!" Mia gasped. "You want to use _Polyjuice Potion?_"

"What's that?" said Ron and Harry together.

"Snape mentioned it in class a few weeks ago—"

"D'you think we've got nothing better to do in Potions than listen to Snape?" muttered Ron.

"It transforms you into somebody else. Think about it! We could change into three of the Slytherins. No one would know it was us. Malfoy would probably tell us anything. He's probably boasting about it in the Slytherin common room right now, if only we could hear him."

"But that's really advanced Hermione," said Mia. "It'll take a long tme to make, and half the stuff we need isn't offered to students. It probably takes a fully qualified wizard to make it—"

"And that's where you come in Mia," Hermione interrupted. Mia stared at her, her mouth hanging open.

"Sorry?"

"You can make it Mia," Hermione said. "I'll help you out of course, but let's face it, you're the best one out of all of us at potions."

"Hermione, I don't know, I've never made such an advanced potion before," Mia muttered uncertainly, biting her lip.

"This Polyjuice stuff sounds a bit dodgy to me," said Ron, frowning. "What if we were stuck looking like three of the Slytherins forever?"

"It wears off after a while," said Hermione, waving her hand impatiently. "But getting hold of the recipe will be very difficult. Snape said it was in a book called Moste Potente Potions and it's bound to be in the Restricted Section of the library."

"So that means we'll have to get a teacher to sign a note," Harry stated.

"Hard to see why we'd want the book, really," said Ron. "If we weren't going to try and make one of the potions."

"I think," said Hermione. "That if we made it sound as though we were just interested in the theory, we might stand a chance…

"Oh, come on, no teacher's going to fall for that," said Ron. "They'd have to be really thick…"

"Lockhart!" Mia exclaimed in a whisper. "We can get Lockhart to sign it."

"That's brilliant!" said Harry. "We can get Lockhart to sign one for Hermione."

"Why me?"

"Because you're the only one who think he's some sort of God," Mia replied simply. "Honestly, you guys should hear half the things Hermione rambles about when she's cooing over that picture she has stuffed under her pillow—"

"_Mia!" _

"Why is it that Mia is the only normal girl in this place?" Ron said As Hermione reached over to smack a laughing Mia.

"Trust me mate, she's anything but normal," Harry grinned, dodging out of sight when Mia aimed a thick heavy volume straight at his head.

**Rate and review!**


	9. Dangerous Games

**Hello everyone! Sorry I'm a day late, I would have finished this last night, but something came up, as usual. X( Anyway, here's chapter nine, I hope you all like it. I really like this one, and I can't believe how fast this story is going for me. I'm excited to get it done because I'm anxious to get to the third book (that's my favorite one! ^^) As always, any questions, comments, concerns, you know how to reach me! Love you guys and please review, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter are not mine. **

Chapter Nine: Dangerous Games

MPOV

As it turned out, getting Lockhart to sign the note was easier than any of them had ever expected. After one of Lockhart's ridiculous defense lessons, Hermione had approached him and asked for his signature, which would help her understand his theory in one of his books. The words had barely left her mouth when Lockhart had swooped down with his peacock feather quill and signed the piece of parchment with flourish, giving Hermione a warm smile and leaving her a bright shade of red. He had barely even looked at the book they wanted to check out, for which they were grateful for, and as they were leaving, Lockhart tried to give Harry some flying tips for the upcoming Quidditch match, wanting to give advice from a "more experienced" player.

"That's very nice of you to help and give advice Professor, but Harry doesn't really need it," said Mia. "Harry's been doing perfectly well all on his own and I have to say he outdoes most talented players, maybe even yourself—he wasn't named the youngest Seeker in the century for nothing."

Before Lockhart could even think of a response, Mia pulled Harry out of the classroom, with Hermione giving her a disapproving look and with Ron snickering loudly. They made their way to the library, Hermione clutching Lockhart's note close to her chest and fawning over it. When they presented the note to Madame Pince, the librarian, Hermione was reluctant to hand it over, but Ron snatched it out of her hand, rolling his eyes. Reluctantly, Madame Pince accepted the note and went into the restricted section to retrieve the book. She soon returned with a black and moldy looking book that looked as if it had seen better days. She handed it over to Mia, who carefully placed it into her bag. After thanking Madame Pince, the four of them retreated out of the library and headed straight for Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. They agreed it was the best place to make the potion, as nearly everyone avoided the bathroom at all costs. When they entered, the heard Myrtle crying softly in her toilet, making gurgling sounds in the water. Mia and Hermione offered a quiet hello, but all they got was a sniffle in reply. They all gathered in the corner of the bathroom as Mia pulled _Moste Potente Potions_ out of her bag, handling it as if it were made out of glass. She handed it over to Hermione and they stood side by side while Harry and Ron peered over their shoulders.

"Here it is," said Hermione after she found the page headed _The Polyjuice Potion_. "This is the most complicated potion I've ever seen…"

"Look at all these ingredients," Mia murmured as she scanned the recipe. "Lacewing flies, leeches, fluxweed, and knotgrass. Well, they're easy enough, they're in the student store-cupboard, we can help ourselves to them."

"Oooh, look, powdered horn of a bicorn," said Hermione. "Don't know where we're going to get that—shredded skin of a boomslang , that'll be tricky, too, and of course a bit of whoever we want to change into."

"Excuse me?" said Ron sharply. "What d'you mean, a bit of whoever we're changing into? I'm drinking nothing with Crabbe's toenails in it—"

"Ew, Ron, don't be so gross!" said Mia, scrunching up her nose. "We don't need toenails, hairs will be just fine. And we don't have to worry about that yet, because we add those bits last."

"D'you realize how much we're going to have to steal, though?" asked Harry. "Shredded skin of a boomslang, that's definitely not offered to students. What're we going to do, break into Snape's private stores?"

"Of course we're stealing from Snape's stores," replied Mia casually, still reading over the recipe.

"Oh yeah sure, make it sound like it's just gonna be a skip through the daisies, why don't you?" said Ron.

"Well do you have any other bright ideas?" said Mia while Hermione shut the book with a snap.

"If you two are going to chicken out, fine," she said. "I don't want to break rules, you know. I think threatening Muggle-borns is far worse than brewing up a difficult potion. But if you don't want to find out if it's Malfoy, I'll go straight to Madam Pince now and hand the book back in."

There was a brief moment of silence as Mia, Harry and Ron stared at her. Then Mia's face broke into a wide smile and she placed an arm around Hermione.

"I always knew you'd come over to the dark side at some point Mione," she said happily.

"I never thought I'd see the day when you'd be persuading us to break rules," said Ron. "All right, we'll do it."

"How long will it take to make, anyway?" said Harry.

"Well, since the fluxweed has got to be picked at the full moon and the lacewings have got to be stewed for twenty-one days…I'd say it'd be ready in about a month, if we can get all the ingredients," Hermione answered.

"A month?" said Ron. "Malfoy could have attacked half the Muggle-borns in the school by then!"

Hermione's eyes narrowed dangerously, and he added swiftly, "But it's the best plan we've got, so full steam ahead, I say."

"Are you really sure we'll be able to make this Mione?" asked Mia. "What if something goes wrong?"

"Mia, like I said before, you're brilliant at potions, you can do it," Hermione replied, smiling encouragingly. "As soon as we get all the ingredients we need, we'll get started."

"But I swear, if I end up looking like some Slytherin baboon forever, I'll have Peeves haunt you until they day we graduate," said Ron with a scowl.

"Aww, but Ronnikins, you wear the baboon look so well," Mia cooed, batting her eyelashes at him. The look on Ron's face made Harry laugh, and Hermione cracked a small smirk. They all spent a few more minutes making plans for the potion before it was time to head on out. Hermione checked to make sure the coast was clear before they entered the corridor.

"You know, it'll be a lot less hassle if you can just knock Malfoy off his broom tomorrow," Ron said to Harry.

"All we can do is hope, Ron," Mia said with a sigh. "But seriously Harry, I don't think anyone would mind if you happen to crash Malfoy straight into the ground—"

"Mia," Hermione scolded.

"What? I'm just making a suggestion," Mia said innocently while Harry and Ron chuckled. "There's nothing wrong with giving Harry a little friendly advice and support."

"Wow Mia, I think Fred and George have been rubbing off on you," said Ron.

"Nah, she's been like this," said Harry, grinning. "You think she's nice and sweet one second, and then the next—"

Harry stopped short and his grin fell, because at that moment Mia whipped around and gave him a look that would make full grown men quiver in their boots.

"—she's _amazingly_ nice and sweet, very smart, pretty, and honestly the best girl I've had the pleasure of knowing," Harry finished quickly.

"Good boy," Mia said, giving him a smile and a pat on the head before turning back to Hermione as they continued walking down the corridor. Mia glanced over to see Hermione staring at her, a weird smile playing on her lips, as if there was something she knew that Mia didn't.

"What?" said Mia.

"Oh nothing," Hermione answered, though her smile said otherwise.

"You're kind of creeping me out right now Mione," Mia said slowly. Hermione just giggled, and didn't say anything else, leaving Mia to wonder about the sanity of her friend. The four friends walked through the corridors and up the staircases, on their way up to Gryffindor tower to drop off their bags before heading on down to the Great Hall for dinner. They were going down a little early because Wood called a last minute practice for tomorrow, and Harry needed to change, then eat. Once they got up to the tower, they saw that there weren't very many people in the common room. Just as they were about to head up to their own dormitories, they suddenly heard a hissing sound followed by a terrified squeak. In the next second, Scabbers the rat came running down the stairs and through the small crack in the door leading up to the boy's dorm.

"Scabbers!" said Ron as he walked over and hurriedly picked up his pet. "What wrong with you?"

Scabbers continued squeaking, curling up in Ron's hands. Then the door creaked further open and Sapphire poked herself out, looking around the room. As soon as she saw the rat in Ron's hands, a low and dangerous mewling noise came from her, and she almost seemed to be glaring at him.

"Sapphire!" said Mia, striding over to her cat and taking her into her arms. "What's gotten into you? Bad girl, I told you to leave Scabbers alone."

"What's with that bloody cat?" Ron demanded.

"I don't know. I'm sorry Ron," said Mia, holding Sapphire close. "She's chased Scabbers around a few times, but this is the first time she's really tried to hurt him. I don't know what's up with her. I'll try to keep her in our dorm from now on, okay?"

"It's fine," Ron grumbled, glaring at Sapphire, who still refused to take her eyes off Scabbers. "Just keep an eye on her. I need to stop leaving Scabbers alone in the room, because she always gets in somehow."

"That's because she likes using me as her pin cushion," said Harry. "Come on, let's go upstairs."

After Sapphire and Scabbers were placed safely in their dormitories, Mia and the others soon left the common room to head down to dinner, with Harry's Nimbus 2000 slung over his shoulder.

"Are you nervous for tomorrow Harry?" Hermione asked him.

"A little," Harry answered.

"Don't worry about it Harry," said Mia. "They may have better brooms, but we have better players. I know you'll beat that smug face off of Malfoy tomorrow."

"And if he gets the Snitch before me?"

"Grab Fred or George's bat and hit him with a Bludger," she said with a beaming smile. "Either way it'll be a Gryffindor victory."

…..

"Ginny! Ginny, over here!"

"Hey Mia," Ginny greeted as she stumbled over through the crowd of cheering and hollering Gryffindors that filled up the stands in the Quidditch Pitch, all brandishing their red and gold. The match against Slytherin was due to start at any moment, and Mia was getting excited. She always loved watching the games, and she was determined to beat Slytherin. Her, Ron and Hermione had gotten decent seats, with Ron wearing painted Red streaks on his cheeks and Hermione waving a Gryffindor banner. Mia smiled as Ginny made her way over to them, gesturing for the young girl to sit next to her. While Ginny took her seat, Mia scanned the field and she grinned as she saw that the teams were starting to walk onto the field.

"This game's going to be brilliant," said Seamus from not far away.

"Yeah, we'll show the Slytherins that it takes more than brooms to win," Dean added.

"Are you excited for your first game Ginny?" Mia asked. Ginny nodded.

"I always saw Fred and George practicing during the summer," she said. "But never in a real game. I hope we win."

"So do I," Mia agreed. At that moment, Madame Hooch's whistle pierced the air, and then the sky was filled with red and green blurs as the match started. Mia saw Harry shoot up higher than everyone else, looking around for the Snitch. She saw Malfoy fly up close to him not too long after and she scowled. That blonde got better not distract Harry from the game.

"And the game begins, with Gryffindor in possession of the Quaffle, taken by Katie Bell," Lee Jordan spoke into the microphone. "She flies straight across the field, narrowly dodging a Bludger and Slytherin Chaser Pucy—watch out, Katie!—Bell misses a near collision with Slytherin Chaser Mullen, but drops the Quaffle—and it's picked up by Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint—wow, those Nimbus 2001's can fly—Flint races down the pitch to the Gryffindor goals—he throws—and Wood blocks it!"

Mia cheered along with the other Gryffindors at Wood's superb save, and just then, she felt something wet fall onto her nose. She touched it with her fingers, confused for a moment until it happened again. Looking up, Mia saw that it was starting to rain, and she internally groaned to herself, pulling her cloak tighter against her body. Trying to ignore it, Mia brought her attention back to the game, just as she saw a Bludger pelt across the field and head straight for Harry. She gasped as he dodged it, and Fred Weasley hit it with his bat, sending it flying in the other direction. She breathed again just as Slytherin scored their first goal, and there was a tidal wave of "boos" from the Gryffindor end of the pitch.

Unfortunately, things didn't change for the better for Gryffindor as the game went on. Mia had to admit that Slytherin was doing extremely well due to their new brooms. They were zooming around like bullets, passing the Quaffle back and forth to one another and scoring goal after goal. After some time into the game, the rain was starting to come down harder until it was falling in heavy sheets. Mia pulled up the hood of her cloak and rubbed her hand together, but it didn't help very much, and she was starting to shiver from the cold. As she continued watching, she suddenly noticed that she hasn't been seeing Fred or George come to the aid of the Gryffindor Chasers when they were trying to avoid Bludgers. Where were they? She started scanning around the pitch for the pair of redheads, but what she found made her gasp, her eyes widening.

Up in the sky, Mia could just make out three robed players that looked like Harry, Fred and George. Fred and George were whacking furiously at one of the Bludgers, but, for some reason, the Bludger would always turn around and shoot back—right over at Harry. Mia let out a little squeak as the Bludger nearly made Harry fall out of his seat, and he quickly started flying up towards their end of the pitch, with the Bludger, Fred and George right at his heels.

"Ron! Hermione!" Mia called.

"What is it?" said Hermione.

"Harry's being chased by a Bludger!"

"What are you talking about Mia?" Ron yelled over the noise of the crowd and the rain.

"Someone must have put a spell or something on one of the Bludgers!" Mia exclaimed. "Look, up there, see it? It won't leave Harry alone, Fred and George are trying to get rid of it! It's been tampered with!"

"But how is that possible?" said Ron, his eyes never straying away from the red streak that was Harry. "All the balls have been locked up since last night when they were finished practice! No one else but Madame Hooch has the key!"

"It doesn't matter how, they need to do something," said Hermione worriedly. "Fred and George are crowding around Harry, he won't be able to get the Snitch, but they can't leave him on his own either!"

"But the team's getting crushed without Fred and George!" Ron said. "At this rate Slytherin will win! Those dirty cheating snakes, I bet it was them who cursed the Bludger!"

Before any of them could say anything else, they heard the sharp blow of Madame Hooch's whistle through all the noise around them. Squinting through the rain, Mia saw that someone from Gryffindor had called time out, and she saw all the players fly down to huddle on the ground.

"They're on time out," she said brightly. "Maybe Wood will ask for an inquiry of something…"

"If they stop now they'll have to forfeit the match though," said Ron. "And you know Harry won't do that."

"But he's going to get himself killed if he has to deal with that Bludger!" Mia counted. "He's not that crazy…right?"

"Crazy, no, stubborn, yes," Hermione replied.

"Still, one of the twins has to stay with him," Mia said. "It would be mad if—"

Mia didn't finish, because at that moment, the Gryffindor's break was up, and they were all rising back into the air…and Harry was flying alone with the Bludger on his tail as quick as a flash.

"That's it, if this Bludger doesn't kill him, I will!" she shouted furiously.

The game continued on, with Mia, Hermione, and Ron never taking their eyes off of Harry. Mia had her fingers crossed, praying that Harry wouldn't get hurt. At some point, when Harry had temporarily gotten rid of the Bludger, she saw Malfoy fly over to him, and she was sure he was taunting him. Suddenly, the Bludger once again came out of nowhere, and then it smashed right into Harry's arm. Mia's hands flew to her mouth as she saw Harry's broom jerk violently off to the side, and he had to hang on for dear life, clutching his arm. She couldn't imagine the pain he must be enduring, and her worry grew even more for her friend. Right now she didn't even care if Malfoy got the Snitch, she just wanted the game to be over so Harry could get off the field. Then, to Mia's amazement, Harry shot straight towards Malfoy, and she saw him throw out his other arm to snatch at something in the air that was right behind Malfoy. In the next second, Harry was falling down towards the ground, and he landed hard in the mud, rolling around a few times before becoming still, his broom landing beside him. Sacred and frantic, Mia looked to the other two, who was just as pale as she was, and without a word, all three of them started to push their way through the crowds and make their way out of the stand to get onto the field. As they ran down the steps, Mia distantly heard the third and final blow of the whistle, and Lee Jordan announcing Gryffindor's win. By the time she, Ron and Hermione got onto the field, she saw a bunch of other people running towards Harry as well, including the rest of the team. Mia sprinted ahead of all of them, not stopping until she fell down to her knees beside Harry, who was unconscious.

"Harry! Harry, are you all right?" she said, shaking his shoulder. "Harry!"

"I think he's just fainted," Hermione said from beside her. "Just don't touch his arm."

Mia quickly unclasped her cloak and shrugged it off, rolling it up into a ball and gently lifting Harry's head so she could place it underneath, hoping he didn't hurt his head when he fell. There was a whole crowd of people gathered around them now, trying to peer over to see how the Gryffindor Seeker was faring.

"We have to get him up to the hospital wing," said Katie Bell from somewhere on the right.

"No need for that! Let me through please, let me through! I know just the thing to get Potter back on his feet!"

_Oh no. _Mia groaned as Lockhart forcefully made his way to the front of the crowd, his jade-green robes soaked but still somehow billowing behind him. He dropped down beside Harry opposite of Mia, and she was about to tell him to leave Harry be when they heard a moan from beneath them. Mia looked down to see Harry was coming around, his eyes fluttering open. A great sense of relief washed over Mia, and she beamed down at him as he stared up at her. Then his eyes shifted over to Lockhart and he moaned again.

"Oh, no, not you," he said.

"Poor boy, doesn't know what he's saying," said Lockhart loudly to the anxious crowd of Gryffindors. "Not to worry, Harry. I'm about to fix your arm."

"No!" said Harry. "I'll keep it like this, thanks…"

"Really professor, we should take him to Madame Pomfrey," Mia insisted. Next to her, Colin Creevey had his camera out and was taking pictures of everything that was going on .

"I don't want a photo of this, Colin!" Harry said loudly.

"Lie back, Harry," said Lockhart soothingly. "It's a simple charm I've used countless times—"

"Why can't I just go to the hospital wing?" said Harry through clenched teeth.

"He should really, Professor," said a muddy Wood, who was grinning despite the situation. "Great capture, Harry, really spectacular, your best yet, I'd say—"

"Oliver!" said Mia sharply. "Maybe we can tell him how great the catch was after we get him some medical assistance!"

"Don't worry Miss Thatcher, I'll bring your friend back to excellent shape in no time. Now, stand back," said Lockhart, who was rolling up his sleeves.

"No—don't—" said Harry, but Lockhart was twirling his wand and a second later had directed it straight at Harry's arm.

"Professor, no!" cried Mia.

It was too late. Harry closed his eyes and turned his face away as a soft blue light seem to cover his entire arm, growing brighter until it finally extinguished. Mia, along with everyone else made loud gasps of horror as they looked down at Harry's arm. Or really, what was supposed to be an arm. Instead, it looked like some sort of deflated rubber glove that was lying limply on the ground. Lockhart hadn't mended Harry's bones—he removed them.

"Harry," said Mia in a weak voice. "_Do not _open your eyes."

"Ah," said Lockhart. "Yes. Well, that can sometimes happen. But the point is, the bones are no longer broken. That's the thing to bear in mind. So, Harry, just toddle up to the hospital wing—ah, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, would you escort him along with Miss Thatcher? And Madam Pomfrey will be able to—er—tidy you up a bit."

Mia grabbed Harry's good arm and hoisted him up, putting her arm round his waist and avoiding looking at the rubber arm. She, Ron and Hermione started walking him back up to the castle through the heavy rain, and Harry turned to face her, his eyes fluttering open.

"What did he do?" Harry asked.

"Nothing very horrible," Hermione answered.

"Are you mad?!" said Ron. "How can this not be very horrible?!"

"It'll be okay though, Harry," Mia said comfortingly. "Madame Pomfrey will be able to fix it."

"Fix what?" asked Harry. Before Ma could answer, he took a deep breath and then looked over to his right side. As soon as he saw his arm, he looked like he wanted to pass out again, and he slumped a little in Mia's arms, his face going slightly green.

"My arm," he said, his voice cracking a little.

"I told you not to open your eyes," said Mia. The four of them hurriedly made their way up the slippery slopes of the lawns, trying not to trip and fall, and thankfully made it to the castle in good time. When they got up to the hospital wing, they were met by a very annoyed and displeased Madame Pomfrey.

"Potter," she said once they entered. "What have you done to yourself now?"

"Lockhart," Mia said instantly, walking Harry over to a bed. "Harry broke his arm during the game and he tried to fix it."

"Is that not what_ I'm _here for?" the matron said as she came over to inspect the damage. A frown came across her lips when she saw that there were no bones in Harry's arm.

"You should have come straight to me!" she raged. "I can mend bones in a second—but growing them back—"

"You will be able to, won't you?" said Harry desperately.

"I'll be able to, certainly, but it will be painful," said Madam Pomfrey grimly. "I'm sorry Potter, but you'll have to stay the night."

Madame Pomfrey grabbed Harry a set of pajamas, and then drew a curtain around Harry's bed. Hermione and Mia waited outside while Ron helped him into his pajamas.

"How can you stick up for Lockhart now, Hermione, eh?" Ron called through the curtain. "If Harry had wanted de-boning he would have asked."

"Anyone can make a mistake," said Hermione. "And it doesn't hurt anymore, does it, Harry?"

"No," said Harry, getting into bed. "But it doesn't do anything else either. And it'll hurt more by the sound of it."

"And that wasn't a mistake Hermione," Mia argued. "He had no clue what he was doing! Harry should have come here right away, it's Madame Pomfrey's job to fix things like this."

Madam Pomfrey came back to the bed, this time carrying a large bottle of something labeled Skele-Gro. She put the curtains away as soon as Harry was dressed, and Mia and Hermione followed her back in.

"You're in for a rough night," she said, pouring out a steaming beaker full and handing it to him. "Regrowing bones is a nasty business."

Just then, Harry coughed up some of the potion that he had put into his mouth, spraying it across the bed, his face twisted up into one of revulsion and disgust.

"What did you expect?" Madame Pomfrey said impatiently filling another beaker. "Pumpkin juice? Here."

Harry did not look thrilled at having to take more of the potion, but he accepted it without argue and drank, sputtering as he did so. Still tut-tutting about dangerous sports and inept teachers, Madam Pomfrey retreated, leaving Ron, Mia and Hermione to help Harry gulp down some water.

"You know Harry, when I said beat a Bludger yesterday, I didn't mean with _you_," Mia stated, sitting at the end of his bed with a scowl.

"We won, though," said Ron, a grin breaking across his face. "That was some catch you made. Malfoy's face…he looked ready to kill."

"I still want to know how he fixed that Bludger," said Hermione darkly.

"We can add that to the list of questions we'll ask him when we've taken the Polyjuice Potion," said Harry, sinking back onto his pillows. "I hope it tastes better than this stuff."

"If it's got bits of Slytherins in it? You've got to be joking," said Ron.

Mia rolled her eyes at Ron, and then the door of the hospital wing burst open revealing the whole Gryffindor team, all filthy and soaking wet. The all smiled as they came over, obviously glad to see that he was all right.

"Unbelievable flying, Harry," said George. "I've just seen Marcus Flint yelling at Malfoy. Something about having the Snitch on top of his head and not noticing. Malfoy didn't seem too happy."

"I didn't think he would be. And by the way," Mia added, slowly turning to face the twins with her eyes glinting dangerously, causing both of them to gulp. "If you two ever leave Harry to deal with a Rogue Bludger again, I'll make sure your mum looks like a sweet and cuddly kitten compared to what I'm going to do to you."

The look on the twins' faces were hilarious. They both let out a terrified squeak and hid behind Alicia and Angelina while Mia glared daggers at them.

"But it's Harry's fault!" said Fred, pointing to him from around Alicia. "He's the nutter who wanted to take it on his own—"

"Yeah, George and I are the innocent ones in this situation!" George added from behind Angelina. "And we don't get to say that very often!"

"Since when have you two ever been innocent?" said Hermione. "And you didn't have to listen to Harry when he said to leave him alone—"

"Hermione!" yelled Fred.

"Do you _want_ to see us get killed?!" cried George. "You'd be torn too if you had to choose between Harry's temper and Mia's wrath—"

"We were scared for our lives!" Fred continued. He was about to say more, but at that moment the rant was cut off by the sound of sudden laughter. Everyone looked over to see Harry laughing on the bed, trying to muffle it behind his hand. Mia smiled. _Works every time. _Before any of them could say anything else, Madame Pomfrey came back around, her face a mix of impatience and anger.

"This boy needs rest, he's got thirty-three bones to re-grow! Out! OUT!" she shouted at them, shooing them away.

'We'll try to come and see you later, okay mate?" said Ron, clapping Harry on the shoulder.

"Sure. See you guys later," Harry said. Ron and Hermione left the bed and Mia leaned down to give Harry a quick hug, not wanting him to get wet.

"Try not to give Madame Pomfrey a hard time," she said. "You know how much she loves having you here."

"I'll do my best," Harry said, smiling. Smiling back and giving him a wink, Mia turned around, and then followed Ron and Hermione out of the hospital wing, looking forward to a nice hot shower before heading down to lunch.

….

_Dear Mum, Dad, and Brian,_

_ How are you guys? I miss you all so much! How are things going at home? Things are all right here at school, the same old stuff, really. The first match of the Quidditch season was yesterday, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, and we won! Can you believe it? Even though they had better brooms, we still beat them in the end. It was raining during the game, so everyone got pretty soaked, but I feel bad for the team, having to fly and play in this kind of weather. Something really strange happened though. One of the Bludgers—enchanted balls that fly around trying to knock players off their brooms—went haywire and started going after Harry. It wouldn't leave him along the entire game, and he got an injury because of it, but don't worry, he's doing fine, the school nurse will be able to fix him up in a jiffy. We're not sure what caused the Bludger to go after him, but Ron believes the people from the other team did it. _

_ Classes are going well, I'm still loving Potions, even though Snape's still horrible and a git (sorry Mum). Professor Lockhart's lessons are still boring, all we ever do is write and talk about him, and all the things he has done! Honestly, I don't know why Hermione likes him so much—everyone with a brain can see that he's an idiot. Hermione told me to say hello and we were both hoping if you gave any more thought to me going to France with her and her parents this summer? I promise I'll be really careful, and do more chores around the house!_

_ Thanks for the cookies you sent us Mum, we all loved them, especially Ron, he and Harry were fighting over who gets the last one. It's funny to see those two go at it sometimes, but seeing Hermione and Ron bicker is so much better. Harry thinks he's going to win this bet, but there is no way—those two are destined to be together._

_Winter's definitely getting closer, and I wouldn't be surprised if it started to snow sometime soon. Hagrid said that if we want to, we can help him get some Christmas trees from the forest to decorate the Great Hall, as long as it's all right with Professor McGonagall, of course. We haven't seen him in a little while, maybe I'll write to him and see if he's up for some visitors this weekend. Well, that's all for now. I love you guys so much, I'll talk to you soon._

_Love,_

_Mia_

Mia signed her letter and then reached over to next to her to grab an envelope. Once she had it folded, she placed the letter inside the envelope, sealed it, and started writing her address on the front.

"Mia, this drawing is great!" said Hermione, holding up a large piece of paper to the light. "So beautiful!"

"Thanks Hermione," said Mia with a smile. The two girls were now sitting alone in the common room the day after the Quidditch match waiting for Ron to get ready so they could all go down to see Harry. They had gotten up fairly early, so there wasn't a lot of people in the common room at all, maybe five at most. Hermione was looking at the drawing of Hagrid's Hut and the lake that Mia had finally finished. It was painted with such lovely colors and she tried to get every last detail down because she was considering giving it to Hagrid as a gift for helping her make Harry's photo album last year. However, she wanted to get another opinion before she gave it to him, so she asked Hermione for her critique.

"And you did all this yourself by sight?" asked the bushy haired girl.

"Mmhm," Mia replied, nodding. "It took a while for me to get the colors right, but I think it turned out really nice in the end.

"It sure did," Hermione agreed, handing the paper back to her. "Hagrid will love it."

"I hope so," Mia said as she took it. "What is taking Ron so long?"

"Who knows," said Hermione. "He's worse than a girl sometimes…"

"I am not!"

Mia and Hermione turned around to see Ron coming down the stairs, stifling a yawn.

"Good morning sunshine," said Mia brightly.

"Morning," Ron mumbled, taking a long stretch. "Are we ready to go and see Harry?"

"Sure, just let me put this back upstairs," said Mia, indicating her drawing. Just as she stood up, the portrait hole opened, and a first year girl came running through. Mia was startled to see that there were tears in her eyes, and she seemed out of breath, as if she had just run a marathon.

"Are you all right?" Hermione said, standing up and walking over to the girl, placing a hand on her shoulder. The girl shook her head.

"I—I h-heard," she stammered, choking up on her tears. "Professor M-McGonagall tell F-Flitwick…"

"It's okay take your time," Hermione soothed. "It'll be okay."

"N-no," the girl said, shaking her head, her hair falling into her face. "M-my friend Colin—h-he's been a-attacked! He's b-been petrified!"

**Rate and review please! Thanks!**


	10. Parselmouths

**Well everyone, here it is, chapter ten, and on time too, I might add. I'm sorry that most of this stuff is very similar to the book, I tried my best with it. I'm so happy that you all like it, 100 review for only nine chapters and so many favorites and follows! You all inspire me to do my best, and I feel lucky to have such wonderful readers such as yourselves. To those of you who have stuck with this story from the very beginning, I thank you and appreciate it, truly.**

**Now, enough of all this blabber, let's get on with the story! Please read and review, you all know how much I love them ;) Any comments or concerns just let me know! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter are not mine. **

Chapter Ten: Parselmouths

MPOV

It was really hard for Mia to take in the news she received just barely a half hour ago. Colin Creevey—tiny, adorable Colin Creveey—had been attacked. He was attacked by Slytherin's monster, the first human victim since they had discovered the writing on the wall. Mia couldn't imagine Colin looking like Mrs. Norris, frozen stiff, and unmoving like a statue. Mixed feelings of sorrow and determination swelled in her stomach at the thought of it. Sorrow because Colin was just a small boy who loved taking pictures and didn't deserve to be attacked, and determination to get started on the Polyjuice Potion so her and the others can interrogate Malfoy and find out some more information about the Chamber of Secrets.

That's what led them to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom instead of the hospital wing. Ron and Hermione wanted to start the potion just as much as she does. Grabbing a cauldron and some supplies from their dorms, they hurriedly walked down the corridors, making their way to the bathroom as fast as they could. Once they were in, they went to the very last stall and squished themselves in, with great difficulty, as the cauldron took up the most room. Hermione placed the cauldron on top of the toilet, and then lit a fire underneath it. They worked silently for a few minutes, trying to focus on the potion, with Mia re-reading the instructions from _Moste Potente Potions, _making sure she did everything correctly. While she was starting to add the first ingredients, Hermione broke the silence.

"I can't believe Colin's petrified," she said softly.

"Me neither," said Mia. "This Heir of Slytherin is really sick, attacking students just because they come from a Muggle family—Colin's done nothing wrong."

"He was an annoying little guy, but he shouldn't of…" Ron said, a stony look on his face. "I swear, if Malfoy is the cause of this I'm going to—"

Ron made a gesture with his hands that looked as if her were strangling someone. Mia rolled her eyes at him and continued to work. She still had high doubts that Malfoy is the Heir of Slytherin, but this potion could still be helpful in figuring gout everything that he knew about it. Hermione handed Ron some toad's stones to add into the cauldron when they heard a sudden voice come from outside the stall.

"It's me."

"Merlin's beard!" Ron exclaimed, jumping into the air and bumping into the cauldron, dropping the stones in it with a loud splash.

"Ron, careful!" Mia said as Hermione peeked through the keyhole.

"Harry!" she said. "You gave us such a fright—come in. How's your arm?"

"Fine," said Harry as he opened the door and squeezed into the stall with them. Now it was extremely crowded, and Mia was lucky to have enough arm space to drop things into the cauldron. She had the potion's book nearly pressed into her chest as they tried to rearrange themselves.

"We would have come to meet you, but we decided to get started on the Polyjuice Potion," Ron explained as Harry, with difficulty, locked the stall again. "We've decided this is the safest place to hide it."

"I have to tell you guys something," said Harry. "It's about Colin—"

"We already know," Hermione cut in. "A first year heard Professor McGonagall telling Professor Flitwick this morning and then told us. That's why we decided we'd better get going—"

"The sooner we get a confession out of Malfoy, the better," snarled Ron. "D'you know what I think? He was in such a foul temper after the Quidditch match, he took it out on Colin."

"'There's something else," said Harry. "Dobby came to visit me in the middle of the night."

"Dobby?" repeated Mia as she looked up from the book. "As in the house elf who ruined your uncle's dinner party, Dobby?"

"That's the one," Harry confirmed with a nod. "He came to me last night while I was sleeping. He was upset that I had found some way to go to school, because—you won't believe this—it was Dobby who stopped Ron and I getting through the barrier at Kings Cross."

"What?" said Ron. "That was him? Why did he do that? We were nearly expelled!"

"He thought that we'd have to stay home if we missed the train," Harry explained. "He didn't know we'd take the car here ourselves, but that's not all. Dobby wanted to make sure that I was sent home, so he made the Bludger chase after me yesterday."

"He what?!" Mia said sharply. "You could have died because of that Bludger!"

"Blimey Harry, are you sure this elf isn't trying to kill you?" asked Ron.

"He told me he only wanted me injured enough to go home," said Harry. "But he made a slip up though—he told me that this is actually the second time that the Chamber of Secrets has been opened. When I tried to get him to tell me more, he started beating himself, and wouldn't say anything else, he just kept telling me to go home. Then Dumbledore and McGonagall came in with Colin, and Dobby vanished."

There was a brief silence as Harry finished talking, and Mia's mouth was hanging open, along with Ron and Hermione's

"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened before?" Hermione said.

"This settles it," said Ron. "Lucius Malfoy must've opened the Chamber and now he's told dear old Draco how to do it. It's obvious. Wish Dobby had told you what kind of monster's in there, though. I want to know how come nobody's noticed it sneaking around the school."

"Maybe it can make itself invisible," said Hermione, prodding leeches to the bottom of the cauldron.

"Or maybe it can disguise itself," Mia added. "Pretend to be a suit of armor or something—I've read about Chameleon Ghouls, and they have that ability."

Ron just shrugged and looked over at Harry.

"So Dobby stopped us from getting on the train and broke your arm," he said, shaking his head. "You know what, Harry? If he doesn't stop trying to save your life I think he really is going to kill you."

"Thanks for those wonderful words of comfort Ron," said Mia, stirring the contents of the cauldron. "You sure know how to brighten up the room."

Ron retaliated by flinging a leech at her, where it stuck to her face. Mia let out a sharp yelp and quickly yanked it off.

"Ron!" she said, glaring at him. Ron started snickering but stopped short when she flung it right back at him, and it landed directly on his nose. He jumped back and knocked into Harry, making them slump on top of each other against the door.

"Will you two knock it off? Honestly, sometimes you're no better than children," Hermione scolded.

"She started it!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did _not!_"

"_Enough!_" Hermione cried, brandishing her wand threateningly. "Not another peep out of you two!"

Mia and Ron instantly shut up, and Hermione glared at them for a moment before going back to the potion. Out of the corner of her eye, Mia saw Harry shaking with restrained laughter and she gave him a sharp nudge in the side with her elbow.

"Thanks for sticking up for me Harry," she mumbled.

"Anytime Mia," he replied with a smirk.

…

The school was in a nervous state after hearing about the attack on Colin Creveey. Unknown to the teachers, amulets, talismans, and other enchanted devices were being given out to students, in hopes of providing protection from the Slytherin monster. There was an unspoken fear that loomed over everyone, and no one dared to go anywhere alone, especially at night. Ginny was one of the many first years who were frightened and distraught, and the twins didn't help much by jumping out from behind statues and scaring her. Most days she sat by herself at a table in the corner of the common room at night, studying and writing in her diary. Whenever Mia would go over to say hello, Ginny would jump a little in her seat and give her a greeting as well, and discreetly tried to hide her diary from view.

The next couple of weeks came and went, with the promise of winter's wrath inching closer and closer with each passing day. The corridors of the castle were extremely cold, and students could be seen huddled together in groups on their way to their classes. Every morning Mia woke up hoping to see the first snowfall of the year, desperately wanting to go and play in it, but to no avail. During class breaks, Hermione would conjure up her little fires and carry it around with them so they could keep warm. In the second week of December, Professor McGonagall came around the Gryffindor table one morning, handing out sign-up sheets for all those who would be staying at the castle for Christmas. Mia, Harry, Ron and Hermione had all signed the paper—they had heard that Malfoy was staying for Christmas, and they found it highly suspicious. Of course, Crabbe and Goyle would be staying too, for whatever Malfoy did, they did. Mia was a little sad because this was the first Christmas that she wouldn't be spending with her parents and Brian. She couldn't tell them the real reason why she wanted to stay at the castle, so she just settle for telling them she heard the was beautiful at Christmas, and she wanted to stay at school at least once to have the experience. Ben and Catherine told her they understood, but she was still sad. Ron cheered her up by talking about opening presents in the common room and the dinner they would share with the teachers who were also staying at the castle during the holidays. It comforted Mia to know that although they still had to interrogate Malfoy, she would be spending the holidays with all her friends.

Unfortunately, the Polyjuice Potion was only half finished. They still needed the bicorn horn and the boomslang skin, and the only place they were going to get them was from Snape's private stores. Harry and Ron were still not all for breaking into Snape's private stores. He hated Harry enough already, and Mia was positive they would never see him again if Snape caught him. So it was decided that Harry would cause a distraction long enough for Hermione to go into Snape's office to get the ingredients they needed.

During their next potions class, they were all assigned to brew a Swelling Solution, and Snape was walking around, preforming his normal duties of complimenting the Slytherins and antagonizing the Gryffindors, especially Neville, whose hands would start to shake every time Snape walked past him. Mia's potion was going well, and she worked silently next to Hermione, who would give Harry the signal when it was time to start the distraction. After Snape walked away once he criticized Harry's potion, Hermione looked over at him and nodded. Mia saw Harry pull something out of his pockets and prod it with his wand. The object immediately started to fizz like a firework, and after checking to make sure no one else was watching, Harry chucked it into the air. Mia watched as it fell into Goyle's cauldron. Knowing they had seconds, Mia quickly dropped the knife she was using to squish the juice out of the fish eyes and bent down to look like she was retrieving it, pulling Hermione with her. In the next moment, Goyle's potion exploded, showering the whole class. People shrieked as splashes of the Swelling Solution hit them and Mia had to keep herself from smirking at Malfoy, who got a face full of the potion, and his nose was starting to swell like a balloon. Mia nudged Hermione, and the bushy haired girl nodded before sneaking off into Snape's office while he tried to disband the confusion.

"Silence! SILENCE!" he roared. "Anyone who has been splashed, come here for a Deflating Draft—when I find out who did this —"

Mia tried not to laugh as he watched Malfoy hurry forward, his head drooping with the weight of a nose like a small melon. It took a little while for Snape to hand out the draft to everyone who had gotten splashed with the potion, and by the time he was finished, Hermione had already come back inside the classroom, the front of her robes bulging. When she came over to stand next to her, she handed Mia the ingredients she took and then Mia stuffed them inside her bags, underneath her books so no one would see them. Once she was sure she had them hidden, Snape walked over to Goyle's cauldron and scooped out the twisted black remains of the firework. There was a sudden hush as everyone looked at the Potion's Master, whose face was twisted into one of rage.

"If I ever find out who threw this," Snape whispered, "I shall make sure that person is expelled."

Snape was looking right at Harry as he said this and Mia silently thanked God that Snape couldn't prove that it was him. When the class ended, Mia and the others hurriedly left the room, and made their way up to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

"He knew it was me," Harry said. "I could tell."

When they reached the bathroom, they went into the stall and Mia threw the ingredients into the bubbling cauldron, watching as it changed color.

"It'll be ready in two weeks," she said happily.

"Snape can't prove it was you," said Ron reassuringly to Harry. "What can he do?"

"Knowing Snape, something foul," said Harry as the potion frothed and bubbled.

"Don't worry, he won't do anything Harry," said Mia. "He'll have to get through me first."

"Mia you can't possibly hope to take on a professor," Hermione countered with a frown. "You're only a second year."

"Mione, it's like you don't know me at all," said Mia sweetly. "Last year I jumped on Quirrell's back and yelled in Voldemort's face. What makes you think the old dungeon bat can scare me?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head while Ron laughed, and Harry just smiled, placing her arm around her and giving her a tight hug.

"You have some guts Mia," he said to her. "You're a true Gryffindor—a real lioness."

Mia's heart fluttered and she beamed at him.

"Thanks Harry. That means a lot."

HPOV

Not too long after they set the firework off in Snape's classroom, Harry and the others were walking through the entrance hall when they saw a small knot of people gathered around the notice board, reading a piece of parchment that had just been pinned up. Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas beckoned them over, looking excited, along with Alex Parker.

"They're starting a Dueling Club!" said Seamus.

"Really?" Mia asked in interest.

"First meeting tonight," Alex replied. "I wouldn't mind dueling lessons, they might come in handy one of these days."

"What, you reckon Slytherin's monster can duel?" said Ron, but he, too, read the sign with interest.

"Could be useful," he said to Harry, Mia and Hermione. "Shall we go?"

"I don't see any reason why we shouldn't check it out," said Mia. "Like Alex said, it could be very useful in the future—no harm in getting an early start, right?"

So at eight o'clock that evening, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Mia hurried back to the Great Hall, eager for the first lesson. When they entered, Harry saw that the long dining tables had vanished and a golden stage had appeared along one wall, lit by thousands of candles floating overhead. The ceiling was velvety black once more and most of the school seemed to be packed beneath it, all carrying their wands and looking excited.

"I wonder who'll be teaching us?" said Hermione as they edged into the chattering crowd. "Someone told me Flitwick was a dueling champion when he was young—maybe it'll be him."

"As long as it's not—" Harry began, but he ended on a groan. Gilderoy Lockhart was walking onto the stage, resplendent in robes of deep plum and accompanied by none other than Snape, wearing his usual black.

"Thanks a lot Harry, you jinxed it!" said Mia, scowling at him. "Now we have to deal with this idiot for an hour…"

"Shh!" Hermione hissed, looking at Lockhart dreamily as he looked out towards the crowd.

"Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent! Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions—for full details, see my published works."

"Can we leave now?" Mia groaned.

"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape," continued Lockhart, flashing a wide smile. "He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about dueling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry—you'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him, never fear!"

"Wouldn't it be good if they finished each other off?" Ron muttered in Harry's ear as Snape's upper lip was curled. Harry wondered why Lockhart was still smiling—if Snape had been looking at him like that he'd have been running as fast as he could in the opposite direction.

"Oooh, Snape is going to _murder_ him," Mia whispered, her face breaking into a grin. "This is going to be good."

Lockhart and Snape turned to face each other and bowed—at least, Lockhart did, with much twirling of his hands, whereas Snape jerked his head irritably. Harry snickered as he watched Mia rub her hands in anticipation out of the corner of his eye. They all watched as Lockhart and Snape raised their wands, each of them taking their own defensive stance.

"As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position," Lockhart told the silent crowd. "On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."

"I wouldn't bet on that," Mia murmured, watching Snape baring his teeth.

"One—two—three—"

Both professors swung their wands above their heads and pointed them at their opponent. Snape cried, _"Expelliarmus!"_ In the next second, Lockhart was blasted off his feet, flying through the air and crashing into the far wall behind him, slumping to the ground and landing on his stomach. Some of the Slytherins were cheering, and some others were covering their mouths to hide their snorts and chuckles. Hermione, however, was dancing on tiptoes, trying to peer over the sea of heads.

"Do you think he's all right?" she squealed through her fingers.

"Who cares?" said Harry and Ron together while Mia let out a muffled laugh behind her hand.

"I told you Snape was going to show him," she giggled.

"Well, there you have it!" Lockhart said, standing back on his feet and fixing his hat as he walked back on stage. "That was a Disarming Charm—as you see, I've lost my wand—ah, thank you, Miss Brown—yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy—however, I felt it would be instructive to let them see. Now, enough demonstrating! I'm going to come amongst you now and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me—"

Both Snape and Lockhart jumped off the stage and then started walking through the crowd, matching everyone up with somebody. Lockhart was pairing up random people, while Snape walked right over to Harry and his friends, a twisted smile on his face.

"Time to split up the dream team, I think," he said. "Weasley, you can partner Finnigan. Potter—"

Harry moved automatically toward Hermione and Mia, but Snape wasn't having that.

"I don't think so," said Snape, smiling coldly. "Mr. Malfoy, come over here. Let's see what you make of the famous Potter. And you, Miss Granger—you can partner Miss Bulstrode, while Miss Thatcher works with Mr. Parker."

Harry frowned as Draco Malfoy walked over with a Slytherin girl who reminded Harry of a picture he'd seen in Holidays with Hags. Hermione looked rather intimidated as she and Millicent Bulstrode walked off, and Mia glared at Malfoy as he stood across from Harry.

"You can go now Thatcher," he said smugly at her. Mia looked as if she were about to say something, but Alex, who had walked up behind her, placed his hand on her arm and shook his head, leading her off to a different spot on the floor. Harry waved at her before turning back to Malfoy, his frown deepening.

"Face your partners!" called Lockhart, back on the platform. "And bow!"

Harry and Malfoy barely inclined their heads, not taking their eyes off each other.

"Wands at the ready!" shouted Lockhart. "When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponents—only to disarm them—we don't want any accidents—one…two…three—"

Harry moved his wand, but Malfoy, who had already started moving on "two", shot a spell at Harry that most definitely wasn't a disarming one. His spell hit Harry so hard he felt as though he'd been hit over the head with a saucepan, and he took a gasp as he staggered backwards, clutching his stomach where the spell had hit him. Furious, Harry repositioned himself and pointed his wand at Malfoy.

"_Rictusempra!_" he shouted. A jet of silver light burst out of his wand and it hit Malfoy in the stomach and he doubled up, cackling with laughter. Before Harry could do anything else, Malfoy gasped out another spell, aiming at Harry's legs, and soon Harry found that his legs were moving out of his control, doing a sort of weird dance in fast motion. He had to lean against the wall for support and Malfoy had fallen to his knees, unable to hold himself upright due to his never-ending laughter.

"I said disarm only!" Lockhart shouted in alarm, as nearly everyone was fighting against one another. He tried to call for order, but no one was listening to him. In the end, it was Snape who cast the spell that ended all the various enchantments that were inflicted upon the students. Harry's legs ceased dancing, and Malfoy stopped laughing, taking a few deep breaths. Looking around, they saw that most of everyone else had been on the receiving end of a bad curse or jinx. Both Neville and Justin were lying on the floor, panting, while Ron was holding up an ashen-faced Seamus, apologizing for whatever his broken wand had done. Mia was helping up Alex, who didn't seem to be hurt, and was red in the face as she handed his wand back to him. However, Hermione and Millicent Bulstrode were still moving—Millicent had Hermione in a headlock and Hermione was whimpering in pain, both their wands lay forgotten on the floor. Harry and Mia leapt forward and pulled Millicent off, even though she was a lot bigger than they were. Harry pulled her off while Mia helped get Hermione head out from Millicent's arm.

After that moment of chaos, Lockhart decided to have some volunteers demonstrate how to block unfriendly spells. He first called on Neville and Justin, but Snape quickly shot that idea down. Instead, he offered Harry and Draco up as volunteers.

"Are you serious?" Harry heard Mia hiss under her breath. "Is he really trying to cause a fight?"

Everyone backed off to give them room as Lockhart gestured for Harry and Malfoy to come to the center of the hall.

"Now, Harry," said Lockhart. "When Draco points his wand at you, you do this."

He raised his own wand, attempted a complicated sort of wiggling action, and dropped it.

"Whoops—my wand is a little overexcited—" said Lockhart as he bent down to pick it up off the floor. Snape moved closer to Malfoy, bent down, and whispered something in his ear. Malfoy smirked, and it made Harry a little uneasy. He looked up nervously at Lockhart and said, "Professor, could you show me that blocking thing again?"

"Scared?" muttered Malfoy, so that Lockhart couldn't hear him.

"You wish," said Harry out of the corner of his mouth. In the crowd, he could see his friends looking at him, with Mia and Hermione smiling encouragingly and Ron giving him a thumbs up.

"Just do what I did, Harry!" said Lockhart, smiling.

"What drop my wand?" said Harry.

"Three—two—one—go!" he shouted.

Malfoy raised his wand quickly and bellowed, _"Serpensortia!"_

Harry watched as a long black snake shot out of the end of Malfoy's wand, landing on the floor and hissing dangerously, slithering towards him slowly. Everyone instantly moved away from the snake, but Harry found that he couldn't make himself move at all.

"Don't move, Potter," said Snape lazily. "I'll get rid of it…"

"Allow me!" shouted Lockhart. He brandished his wand at the snake and there was a loud bang—the snake, instead of vanishing, flew ten feet into the air and fell back to the floor with a loud smack. Enraged and hissing furiously, it slithered straight toward Justin Finch-Fletchley and raised itself again, fangs exposed, poised to strike. Thinking fast, Harry rushed forward and yelled at the snake.

"Leave him!"

All at once, the snake recoiled and slid away from Justin, turning its piercing eyes to Harry, and he let out a sigh of relief, knowing that Justin was safe now. He smiled as he turned to look at him, but what he saw shocked him. Justin was staring at Harry with a mix of anger and fear on his face, and he was slowly backing up, looking back and forth between him and the snake.

"What do you think you're playing at?!" he shouted. Before Harry could say anything, Justin had turned and stormed out of the hall. Harry was completely bewildered by Justin's reaction, and he hardly noticed that Snape had gotten rid of the snake, or that everyone's eyes were now fixed upon him, and they were all whispering. He was only brought back to reality when he felt Ron tugging on the back of his robes.

"Come on," he said. "Move—come on—"

Ron grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him quickly out of the hall, and everyone moved aside to let them pass, each one with the same scared expression on their face. What in the world was going on? Harry remained silent as Ron hauled him through the corridors with Hermione and Mia right behind them, trying to figure out what had just happened. None of them spoke until they finally reached the entrance to the common room. As soon as they were inside, Ron shoved Harry into an armchair and stood in front of him.

"You're a Parselmouth? Why didn't you tell us?" Ron asked.

"I'm a what?" said Harry.

"A Parselmouth!" said Ron. "You can talk to snakes!"

"I know," said Harry. "I mean, that's only the second time I've ever done it. I accidentally set a boa constrictor on my cousin Dudley at the zoo once—long story—but it was telling me it had never seen Brazil and I sort of set it free without meaning to that was before I knew I was a wizard—"

"A boa constrictor told you it had never seen Brazil?" Ron repeated faintly.

"What the big deal Ron?" asked Mia. "You don't need to get upset over this."

"Not get upset?" Ron said, staring at her as if she were mad. "You don't know what this means Mia."

"Of course I know what this mean Ron," Mia countered. "And it's absolute rubbish."

"Can someone please tell me what's the problem with me talking to snakes?" said Harry. "I bet loads of people here can do it."

"Oh, no they can't," said Ron. "It's not a very common gift. Harry, this is bad."

"What's bad?" said Harry, starting to feel angry. "What's wrong with everyone? Listen, if I hadn't told that snake not to attack Justin—"

"Oh, that's what you said to it?"

"What d'you mean? You were there—you heard me—"

"We heard you speaking Parseltongue Harry," said Mia. "Snake language."

"You could have been saying anything," Ron added. "No wonder Justin panicked, you sounded like you were egging the snake on or something—it was creepy, you know—"

"I spoke a different language?" Harry said, his mouth dropping open. "But—I didn't realize—how can I speak a language without knowing I can speak it? Mia, you never—"

"I honestly forgot about the whole zoo incident with your cousin, Harry," Mia said apologetically. "I've read about Parselmouths, but I didn't remember you were one until now."

"Well do you want to tell me what's wrong with stopping a massive snake biting off Justin's head?" Harry said to Ron. "What does it matter how I did it as long as Justin doesn't have to join the Headless Hunt?"

"It matters," said Hermione, speaking at last in a hushed voice. "Because being able to talk to snakes was what Salazar Slytherin was famous for. That's why the symbol of Slytherin House is a serpent."

Harry's mouth fell open even more.

"Exactly," said Ron. "And now the whole school's going to think you're his great-great-great-great-grandson or something—"

"But I'm not," said Harry, with a panic he couldn't quite explain.

"You'll find that hard to prove," said Hermione. "He lived about a thousand years ago; for all we know, you could be."

"But that doesn't mean anything!" said Mia, crossing her arms over her chest. "Not all purebloods are related to the founders of Hogwarts—I'm positive Harry isn't a descendent of Salazar Slytherin."

"But only relatives of Slytherin could speak Parseltongue," said Ron. "It's a sign of a dark wizard…"

"That's stupid!" Mia exclaimed loudly. "Just because most dark wizards have that ability doesn't mean they're all evil! You've known Harry for over a year and I've known him since I was little, he's not dark."

"We know that Mia, but that doesn't mean the rest of the school will," Hermione said gently. "They might think that he's Slytherin's heir."

"Well then they're all prats!" Mia snapped. "Harry saved Justin from the snake—if they can't understand that then they're just bunch of tossers! There's the possibility that Harry isn't the only Parseltongue in the school, and he doesn't hate Muggleborns! If they're going to be that dumb then they can take their wands and shove it—"

"Mia," Harry said, standing up from the armchair and placing a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down. "Take a breath. Trust me, I'm angry too, but there's not much we can do about it now."

Mia stared at him for a moment, then she sighed, relaxing her stance. She looked directly into his eyes, her own sapphire blue ones glowing fiercely.

"You are not bad Harry Potter," she said firmly, her tone suggesting that she was trying to drive it into him. "No matter what being a Parselmouth means…_you are not bad._"

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	11. Stupid Rumors and Becoming Blonde

**Hi there! I'm really sorry that I'm late in updating this chapter, I've suffered a little from writers block, and honestly, every time I tried to write this chapter, something always got in the way or someone needed me for something. But it's finished now, so you all can stop waiting. To make it up to you, I made it a little longer than normal, and I really hope you all like it. **

**Any comments, or questions you have, please tell me! And please review, I really, really, love them! **** Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter are not mine. **

Chapter Eleven: Stupid Rumors and Becoming Blonde

MPOV 

Ever since it was revealed to the school that Harry Potter was a Parselmouth, nearly everyone was avoiding him like the plague and the corridors were filled with whispers, and pointing fingers. It was all driving Mia mad, and there was more than one occasion where she wanted to snap at them, telling them to mind their own business, but she knew that would help very much. Harry had wanted to go and find Justin to explain that he was only trying to help, but the morning a couple days after the incident, after many long weeks, it had finally snowed. The ground was covered in thick layers of white, and the Herbology class that they were supposed to have with the Hufflepuffs was canceled, giving Professor Sprout some time to buddle up the Mandrakes in the greenhouses. While Mia was glad to have the morning off, she knew Harry had really wanted to talk to Justin. Him, Mia, Ron and Hermione decided to spend their time sitting in the common room, where it was nice and warm. Harry and Mia sat in armchairs while Rom and Hermione took the loveseat, playing a game of chess. Mia saw that Harry kept fidgeting with his hand, and he had an anxious expression on his face. Knowing he wasn't going to get over this, Mia rolled her eyes and stood up, tugging on Harry's arm.

"Come on, let's go," she said.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked as he stood up.

"To find Justin," she replied, walking towards the portrait hole. "You're driving me nuts with all this fidgeting."

Saying goodbye to Ron and Hermione, Mia led Harry out of the room and began their search for Justin. They walked through the dark corridors, passing by classes and sneaking glances inside. They walked a couple floors down before deciding to go to the library, thinking that Justin might be using his free time to catch up on some work. The two of them entered the library, with Mia waving cheerfully at Madame Pince, who gave them a curt nod in return, never taking her eyes off the novel in her hands. Mia and Harry searched through the aisles and rows of books, trying to find the young Hufflepuff. While they were looking Mia heard some hushed voices coming from near the back. Peeking through some books, she saw that it was a group of some second year Hufflepuffs who they were supposed to have Herbology with today. She turned to star at Harry, who gave her in inquiring look. As if they read each other's mind, Mia nodded and they inched closer to the group without being seen so they could hear what they were saying.

"So anyway," one of the boys was saying, "I told Justin to hide up in our dormitory. I mean to say, if Potter's marked him down as his next victim, it's best if he keeps a low profile for a while. Of course, Justin's been waiting for something like this to happen ever since he let slip to Potter he was Muggle-born. Justin actually told him he'd been down for Eton. That's not the kind of thing you bandy about with Slytherin's heir on the loose, is it?"

"You definitely think it is Potter, then, Ernie?" said a girl with blonde pigtails anxiously.

"Hannah," said the stout boy solemnly. "He's a Parselmouth. Everyone knows that's the mark of a Dark witch or wizard. Have you ever heard of a decent one who could talk to snakes? They called Slytherin himself Serpent-tongue."

Mia hands were balling into fists at her sides, and she clenched her teeth as anger started to spread through her. She couldn't stand what these students were saying about Harry but she couldn't stop listening either.

"Remember what was written on the wall?" Ernie continued. "Enemies of the Heir, Beware—Potter had some sort of run-in with Filch. Next thing we know, Filch's cat's attacked. That first year, Creevey, was annoying Potter at the Quidditch match, taking pictures of him while he was lying in the mud. Next thing we know—Creevey's been attacked."

"He always seems so nice, though," said Hannah uncertainly. "And, well, he's the one who made You-Know-Who disappear. He can't be all bad, can he?"

Ernie lowered his voice mysteriously. The Hufflepuffs bent closer, and Mia and Harry edged nearer so that they could catch Ernie's words.

"No one knows how he survived that attack by You-Know-Who. I mean to say, he was only a baby when it happened. He should have been blasted into smithereens. Only a really powerful Dark wizard could have survived a curse like that. That's probably why You- Know-Who wanted to kill him in the first place. Didn't want another Dark Lord competing with him. I wonder what other powers Potter's been hiding?"

Mia couldn't take it anymore. As soon as those last words left Ernie's mouth, she walked around the bookcase they were hiding behind and stood in front of the Hufflepuffs, who immediately went silent and looked terrified, especially Ernie. Mia glared venomously at them, her hands still balled into fists. None of the Hufflepuffs said anything, and Harry came out to stand next to Mia. She could tell he was trying to keep calm.

"Hello. We're looking for Justin Finch-Fletchley," he said to them. Everyone in the group looked fearfully at Ernie, as if their worst dreams had come true.

"What do you want with him?" said Ernie in a quavering voice.

"I wanted to tell him what really happened with that snake at the Dueling Club," Harry answered.

Ernie bit his white lips and then, taking a deep breath, said, "We were all there. We saw what happened."

"Then you noticed that after Harry spoke to it, the snake backed off?" said Mia.

"All I saw," said Ernie, "was him speaking Parseltongue and chasing the snake toward Justin."

"I didn't chase it at him!" Harry said, his voice shaking with anger. "It didn't even touch him! It moved _away_ from him."

"It was a very near miss. And in case you're getting ideas," Ernie added hastily, "I might tell you that you can trace my family back through nine generations of witches and warlocks and my blood's as pure as anyone's, so—"

"I don't care what sort of blood you've got!" said Harry fiercely. "Why would I want to attack Muggle-borns? Mia is my best friend and she's a Muggleborn, and so is Hermione. Ron may be a pureblood but his whole family are about Muggle and Muggleborn rights."

"You're being so stupid," Mia added. "You're all so prejudiced that you won't even stop to think about who you're talking about. And how dare you excuse Harry of being a dark wizard! He was a _baby_ when he defeated Voldemort—oh stop it, it's just a name—and you think a one year old who barely knows how to walk can be evil? Oh, that's so scary, let's run from the rattle of death! Not all Parseltongues are evil just because most are. And Harry's right, he's my best friend, why would he ever want to hurt me or anybody?"

"I've heard he hate those Muggles you live with," said Ernie swiftly.

"It's not possible to live with the Dursleys and not hate them," said Harry. "I'd like to see you try it."

With that being said, Harry turned around and stormed out of the library, casing Madame Pince to shush him. Mia sent one last glare at Ernie before quickly following Harry out of the library, trying to keep up with his long strides.

"Harry, wait!" Mia said, going into a jog. Harry came to a stop at the end of the hall, his back facing her. When Mia caught up with him, she saw that he was tense, his body stiff. Moving slowly, Mia placed a hand on his shoulder, and he relaxed somewhat. It took a few seconds, but he finally turned to face her, wearing a hopeless expression.

"I'm sorry about all that Mia," he muttered.

"Harry, you have nothing to apologize for. They're the ones overreacting about all this," said Mia before sighing. "And I should be the one apologizing. I didn't mean to blow up like that, I didn't mean to make things worse for you…I just hate it when people talking about you like that when they don't even bother to find out the truth."

"I know, and I appreciate you sticking up for me," Harry said with a soft smile, pulling her in for a hug. "At least I know I'll always have you with me."

"Of course you will," Mia said hugging him back. "Now and always."

"Forever and ever," Harry finished, and she could hear the smile that was still on his face. As they released each other, the suddenly heard the sound of giant footsteps, and then Hagrid came around the corner, dressed from head to toe in his moleskin coat and boots, carrying a dead rooster in his hands.

"Oh, hello, Hagrid," Mia greeted.

"All righ', Harry? Mia?" Hagrid said. "Why aren't yeh in class?"

"Cancelled," Harry answered. "What're you doing in here?"

"Second one killed this term," Hagrid explained, holding up the dead rooster. "It's either foxes or a Blood-Suckin Bugbear, an' I need the Headmaster's permission ter put a charm around the hen coop. Yeh sure yeh're all righ'?"

"We're fine Hagrid," Harry said. "But we'd better get going, it's Transfiguration next and we've got to pick up our books."

After bidding Hagrid goodbye, Harry and Mia walked in the other direction, planning on heading back up to Gryffindor tower. They walked up the stairs and along another dark corridor.

"Hey Harry, once classes are done, can we go out and play in the snow?" Mia asked, her eyes bright. "Pretty please?"

"I don't see why not," Harry replied, smiling. "I could definitely use the distrac—argh!"

Mia and Harry both tripped over something that was lying in the middle of the hall, and they ended up with Mia falling flat on top of him, crushing him into the ground.

"Oh my gosh, Harry I'm sorry!" Mia gasped, her face going a little red in embarrassment.

"It's fine," Harry grunted. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Mia answered as she quickly got up off of him. She helped him up to his feet and then she turned to see what it was that they tripped over. As soon as she saw what was there, a loud gasp escaped her lips, and her hands flew over her mouth, her eyes widening in horror and her heart beating rapidly in her chest. She felt Harry stiffen next to her and they were both silent as they stared at the figure on the floor.

It was Justin Finch-Fletchley. He was lying on the ground, his skin as pale as snow and his eyes open in shock and terror. His body was completely frozen, as if he were made of stone, and, to Mia's increasing fear, floating horizontal just in front of Justin was Sir Nick. Instead of his usual pearly-white translucent color, he was smoky and black, his expression showing just as much shock as Justin's, his head nearly hanging all the way off his neck. For a moment Mia and Harry did nothing but stare at the scene before them, and Mia soon realized that she was shaking terribly, her mind still trying to process what she was seeing.

"Oh my…" she whispered. "What—what should we do?"

Before Harry could answer her, the door to the room directly to their right burst open with a bang, and Peeves came zooming out, laughing gleefully and coming to a halt right in front of them. When he saw them standing there, his face broke out into a grin.

"Why, it's potty wee Potter!" he cackled. "And potty's little girlfriend! Sneaky sneaky, lovey dovey! What's Potter up to? Why's Potter lurking—"

Peeves stopped dead once he caught sight of Justin and Sir Nick in the hallway, not two feet away from Harry and Mia. His grin fell instantly and he straightened himself up. Mia could barely even get a word out before he filled his lungs with air and bellowed to the high heavens, his voice echoing throughout the corridors.

"ATTACK! ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! ATTAAAACK!"

While Mia was mentally cursing Peeves, every single door in the corridor opened with a bang and teachers as well as students came rushing out to see what all the commotion was about. For several long minutes, there was a scene of such confusion that Justin was in danger of being squashed and people kept standing in Sir Nick. In the middle of all this chatter, everyone's eyes seemed to be fixed upon Harry and Mia, who were standing up against the wall. Soon a hush came over the crowd as Professor McGonagall came running, followed by her own class. She used her wand to set off a loud bang, which restored silence, and ordered everyone back into their classes. No sooner had the scene cleared than Ernie the Hufflepuff arrived, panting, on the scene.

"Caught in the act!" Ernie yelled, pointing his finger at Harry.

"That will do, Macmillan!" said Professor McGonagall sharply. Peeves was bobbing overhead, once again grinning wickedly.

"Oh, Potter, you rotter, oh, what have you done, you're killing off students, you think it's good fun—"

"That's enough Peeves!" barked Professor McGonagall. Peeves zoomed away backward, with his tongue out at Harry as he disappeared through the wall behind him. Mia was still shaking and Harry must have noticed because he pulled her close and held her while Professors Flitwick and Sinistra carried Justin out of the corridor and up to the hospital wing. For Sir Nick, McGonagall had conjured a large fan out of thin air and instructed Ernie to waft him upstairs. As soon as Ernie was out of sight, Professor McGonagall turned to Mia and Harry.

"This way, Potter," she said. "and you should come too, Miss Thatcher."

"Professor, Harry didn't do it!" Mia said at once. "I was with him the whole time—"

"This is out of my hands," said Professor McGonagall curtly, gesturing for them to follow. With a heavy heart, Mia began following Professor McGonagall with Harry at her side. They walked in silence around a corner and she stopped before a large and extremely ugly stone gargoyle. At first Mia was wondering what they were doing there, but at that moment, Professor McGonagall spoke to it.

"Sherbet Lemon!" she said. Mia guessed that this must have been a password of some sort, because the gargoyle sprang suddenly to life and hopped aside as the wall behind it split in two. To Mia's amazement, behind the wall was a spiral staircase that was moving smoothly upward, like an escalator. As she, Harry and Professor McGonagall stepped onto it, she heard the wall thud closed behind them. They rose upward in circles, higher and higher, until at last, they saw a gleaming oak door ahead, with a brass knocker in the shape of a griffin. It was then that Mia realized that Professor McGonagall was taking them to Professor Dumbledore's office. Once they stepped off the staircase, Professor McGonagall knocked sharply on the door, and after a few seconds, it opened silently.

"You two wait inside," she said, ushering them in. "Professor Dumbledore will be here shortly."

With that, Professor McGonagall shut the door and left them inside, alone. Mia turned to Harry.

"What's going on?" she said. "McGonagall doesn't think it was you, do you?"

"I don't know," said Harry. "Why else would she bring us here?"

"But Professor Dumbledore will believe you, right?" Mia insisted. "You haven't done anything wrong, I'll tell him I was with you the whole time—he'll have to believe us."

Harry just gave her a worried look and Mia couldn't even imagine how he must be feeling. The way everyone looked at him, how Ernie had shouted, _"Caught in the act!" _It's bad enough that everyone thought Harry was the heir, but finding Justin and Sir Nick petrified didn't really help things. Mia reached over and took Harry's hand in hers, giving it a squeeze.

"Don't worry," she said, trying to give him an encouraging smile. "No one can prove that it was you."

Harry gave her a half-hearted smile in return, giving her hand a squeeze in return. A silence fell between the two of them, and Mia took this time to look around Professor Dumbledore's office.

The room itself was large, and incredibly beautiful. Half of the walls were lined with glass cabinets that held all sorts of silver and gold magical instruments and objects that made fascinating whistling noises and emitted steam. The other half of the walls were filled to the brink with books of all kinds, big and small, old and new, and there was even a small spiral staircase leading to an upper floor of the office. Hanging directly over the desk was a miniature mobile of different planets twirling around on bronze orbits, rotating in circles. Covering the walls were portraits of what looked like previous Headmasters and Headmistresses of Hogwarts. Most of whom were sleeping while the others were muttering among themselves, staring at Mia and Harry curiously. There were many interesting objects littered on the tables too, such as a large glowing white orb that seemed to have moving pictures inside, standing on a golden pedestal, and a strange plant that was crying tears into the soil of the pot in which it rested. Mia was so mesmerized that she almost didn't notice Harry moving out of the corner of her eye. She turned to see him approaching an old, battered and dirty hat that was sitting on the shelf behind the desk.

"Is that the Sorting Hat?" she asked.

Harry nodded as he walked around the desk and picked the hat off the shelf.

"Harry, what are you doing?" said Mia.

"I just need to see something," Harry replied. After staring at it for a moment, Harry slowly pulled that hat on his head and Mia waited quietly as she watched him. For about a minute, all was silent, but then Harry suddenly yanked the hat off of his head and hastily placed it back on his shelf, looking slightly pale.

"You're wrong," he said aloud to the hat.

"Harry what was that all about?" asked Mia. "Why did you put the Sorting Hat on?"

Harry was quiet for a minute, looking very nervous and uncomfortable, as if he were debating with himself about something. Mia immediately grew worried.

"Harry, what is it?" she said. Harry bit his lip before taking a deep breath.

"Last year at the Sorting Ceremony…the Sorting Hat almost put me in Slytherin. It said that I would have done well in that house. I begged it not to put me there, and that's when it decided on Gryffindor."

Harry stared down at the ground as he spoke, as if he were ashamed to meet her eyes, and Mia looked at him softly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked.

"Everyone says that the darkest wizards all came from Slytherin," Harry said, still not meeting her eyes. "And I just—I was afraid that you would treat me different…that you would…"

"Harry, look at me," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Harry raised his head until he was looking directly at her.

"I've told you before, you are not evil," said Mia. "You are not a bad person. The Sorting Hat only said that you would have done well in Slytherin, not that you belonged there. As much as some people don't want to admit it, there are some good qualities that go along with that house. Remember what the hat sang in our first year? _'Or perhaps in Slytherin, you'll make your real friends. Those cunning folk use any means to achieve their ends.'_"

"You actually remember that?" asked Harry with a smirk.

"The point is, Slytherin isn't all about purity. They value ambition, cunning, and talent, some of which you most definitely have. It's not abilities that show who we are Harry—it's our choices."

Harry gave her a true smile, his green eyes regaining some of their spark.

"Are you sure you shouldn't be in Ravenclaw? You're way too smart for your own good," Harry stated. Mia just smiled at him and patted his shoulder. At that moment, there was a sudden strange gagging noise behind them that made the two of them wheel around. Mia gasped as she saw an ancient looking bird standing on a golden perch, staring at them through half-lidded eyes. The poor thing appeared to have lived too many days, as most of its flaming red feathers were missing, and it stood hunched over, making more gaging noises. Still Mia couldn't believe what she was seeing in front of her, and her expression was filled with awe as she gazed at the creature.

"No way," she whispered a she took a step towards it.

"What?" said Harry.

"It's a Phoenix," Mia breathed, never taking her eyes off the bird. "I've only ever read about them in books…I can't believe I'm actually seeing one!"

"A Phoenix?" asked Harry. "What are those?"

"They're some of the most beautiful, powerful and wisest creatures to ever roam this world," Mia replied, taking another step forward. The Phoenix lifted its head and stared feebly at her, observing her. Mia smiled at it, however, in the next second, she had leapt back a little and gasped along with Harry as the Phoenix suddenly burst into flames, giving one last cry before it was reduced to nothing but ashes. Feeling stupid for not realizing that it was close to dying, Mia stared sadly at the pile of ash, wondering how long it would take for it to be reborn. She looked over at Harry and nearly laughed at the shocked expression on his face. Before she could explain, however, the door to the office opened and in walked Professor Dumbledore.

"Professor," Harry gasped. "Your bird—we couldn't do anything—he just caught fire—"

To Mia's amusement and Harry's confusion, Dumbledore smiled.

"About time, too," he said. "He's been looking dreadful for days. I've been telling him to get a move on."

This time Mia couldn't hold in her giggle at the stunned look on Harry's face.

"Fawkes is a phoenix, Harry," Professor Dumbledore explained. "Phoenixes burst into flame when it is time for them to die and are reborn from the ashes. Watch him…"

Mia and Harry looked down in time to see a tiny, wrinkled, newborn bird poke its head out of the ashes. Mia cooed softly and bent down to the floor, scooping up the tiny bird into her hands and using her finger to gently stroke his head. Fawkes made a high chirping sound, as if he were enjoying the attention he was receiving. Dumbledore smiled at her as she placed Fawkes down on his desk on top of a handkerchief.

"It's a shame you two had to see him on a Burning Day," said Dumbledore, seating himself behind his desk. "He's really very handsome most of the time, wonderful red and gold plumage. Fascinating creatures, phoenixes. They can carry immensely heavy loads, their tears have healing powers, and they make highly faithful pets."

"He really is wonderful sir," said Mia with a smile of her own. Just as Dumbledore was about to speak again, the door of the office flew open with an almighty bang and Hagrid burst in, a wild look in his eyes, and the dead rooster still swinging from his hand.

"It wasn' Harry, Professor Dumbledore!" said Hagrid urgently. "I was talkin' ter him an' Mia seconds before that kid was found, he never had time, sir—"

Dumbledore tried to say something, but Hagrid went ranting on, waving the rooster around in his agitation, sending feathers everywhere. "It can't've bin him, I'll swear it in front o' the Ministry o' Magic if I have to—"

"Hagrid, I—"

"—yeh've got the wrong kid, sir, I know Harry never—"

"Hagrid!" said Dumbledore loudly. "I do not think that Harry attacked those people."

"Oh," said Hagrid, the rooster falling limply at his side. "Right. I'll wait outside then, Headmaster."

Hagrid then turned around and walked back out of the office, his face red as he shut the door behind him.

"You don't think it was me, Professor?" Harry repeated.

"No, Harry, I don't," said Dumbledore, though his face had turned somber. "But I still want to talk to you."

"Should I leave, sir?" Mia asked uncertainly, half turned towards the door.

"No, that is not necessary Mia, as this question is more for the both of you," said Dumbledore, folding his hands across his desk, staring at them with his blue eyes.

"I must ask you two, whether there is anything you'd like to tell me," he said gently. "Anything at all."

Mia bit her lip, her mind spinning in a million different directions as she thought of the many things that her and Harry could tell him, but before she really had time to think, Harry answered.

"No," said Harry. "There isn't anything, Professor…"

"Very well," said Dumbledore, his eyes never leaving them. "You may both go."

Mia and Harry made their way towards the door, and Mia fixed Harry with a look.

"Why didn't you tell Professor Dumbledore anything?" she whispered. "He might've been able to help…"

"I'm not sure," Harry sighed. "Even if I did, what could he do? No one can know about the potion, and he can't have someone interrogate Malfoy just because we suspect him. I think for now, we need to handle this ourselves."

…

After the attack on Justin and Sir Nick, the school quickly went into a terrible panic. Not only was another student attacked, but a ghost as well. No one could even guess what kind of monster could do that to someone who was already dead, and the air was filled with an anxiety to get on the Hogwarts Express to head back home for the holidays. Nearly everyone in the castle has signed up to go home, and were packing their bags and trunks, eager to avoid the danger over the Christmas holidays. Along with Mia, Harry, Ron and Hermione, Fred, George and Ginny also decided to stay at the castle instead of visiting their elder brother Bill in Egypt with their parents. Mia was glad that they were, because she wasn't looking forward to spending the holidays when there was only Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle left in the castle. Fred and George have actually been making Harry feel a little better when it came to the entire school thinking that he was the heir of Slytherin. As a matter of fact, they found the idea of it simply hilarious and ridiculous. They spent the last few days of term walking through the corridors in front of Harry, shouting, "Make way for the Heir of Slytherin, seriously evil wizard coming through!" Mia was happy that they had the twins on their side, and she laughed right along with them every time they made a scene in the hall, trying to ward Harry off with a clove of garlic every time they ran into him in the hallway.

Thankfully, the first day of the holidays was upon them, and Mia was relieved to have a short break from all the schoolwork and fear-filled whispered that were constantly in the corridors. Hermione informed them that the Polyjuice Potion would be ready in just a few days, and then they would be able to get the truth out of Malfoy. The only thing they needed to focus on now was how to get the hairs they needed. Hermione had already assigned them their counterparts—Harry and Ron would obviously be Crabbe and Goyle, as Malfoy always told them everything. Hermione would be Millicent Bulstrode, whose hair she already had from the Dueling Club, and Mia would be a girl named Daphne Greengrass.

Mia was very happy that she, Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys all had the Gryffindor tower to themselves. They could hang out together in the common room with no one else bothering them, playing Exploding Snap, reading, and fighting with each other over who had the best seat in front of the fire. In the end, Mia decided to simply sit on Harry's lap, curling up while reading her book, smirking at his protests. Also, now that there was plenty of snow outside, Mia spent most of her days walking or playing in the snow, usually dragging at least one of her friends with her. One day, Mia was able to bring Hermione outside, making snow angels in one of the courtyards, the two of them giggling as they were moving their arms back and forth. Tiny white flurries were falling gracefully from the sky, landing on Mia's eyelashes and placing soft, cold kisses on her cheek. However, what they didn't know was that both Harry and Ron were sneaking up to them, snowballs clutched in their hands, and they didn't notice them until it was too late, when Harry dropped the snowball right in Mia's face. With a loud yelp, Mia jumped to her feet and raced after him, making her own ammunition along the way, while Hermione was yelling and chasing Ron, who had placed some snow in the hood of her cloak and pulled it over her head, soaking her hair. By the time they had to go back inside, all four of them were nearly drenched and red-faced, with Mia chasing Ron down the corridor, laughing gaily as they were still locked in combat. Ron aimed one at her, but he missed and hit one of the portraits hanging on the wall. Its occupants sputtered and yelled at the second years as they kept on going, with Harry and Hermione right behind them. They were so caught up in their fun that Mia didn't realize she was heading straight for Professor McGonagall, who was walking around the corner with some books in her hand. Mia was just able to catch sight of her and sharply turn so that she ducked under the books and was able to straighten up to go after Ron.

"Do watch where you're going Thatcher!" Professor McGonagall called after her.

"Sorry Professor!" Mia yelled over her shoulder. "Ron Weasley, you get back here right now!"

"Come and get me!" Ron shouted, hightailing it through a door and up some stairs. Mia grinned as she followed him. However, when she reached the top of the stairs, instead of turned right to run after the redhead, a sudden movement from the left caught her attention an she skidded to a halt. Her heart beating hastily in her chest, Mia took some breaths as she looked down the empty corridor, blinking a few times. It was dimly lit by the faint glow of the torches, but Mia could have sworn she saw something slink around the corner at the other end. Was that just some sort of trick of the light. Mia shook her head as she turned and once again went after her freckled friend, never once noticing the looming figure hiding in the shadows, watching her intently.

Christmas morning dawned bright and white. Mia woke up to the comforting feeling of being snuggled up in her blankets, nice and warm, with Sapphire curled up next to her. After stretching and groaning some, Mia sat up in bed and looked out of her frost covered window, smiling brightly. Without a second though, she yanked her blankets off, jumped out of bed, and then she ran over to leap on Hermione's sleeping form.

"Hermione!" said Mia excitedly. "Hermione wake up! It's Christmas!"

Hermione mumbled something Mia couldn't hear and turned away, burying her head under her pillow. Mia wouldn't take no for an answer, because she simply grabbed hold of Hermione's blankets and ripped them off her body.

"Hermione Jean Granger, get your butt out of this bed, or I'll drag you out!" Mia threatened. Hermione lifted one end of the pillow and glared at Mia, who merely smiled and winked in return. In less than five minutes, Mia and Hermione were up, dressed, and decided to head on down to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom to check up on the Polyjuice potion. Once they arrived, they spent about quite a while adding the very last ingredients, double checking to make sure that there was nothing they missed and they read all the directions correctly. After about a half hour, Mia clapped her hands and beamed at Hermione.

"It's ready!"

"Really?" said Hermione, smiling. "You're sure?"

"Absolutely. We can interrogate Malfoy tonight," Mia replied with a grin.

Once they were done checking up on the potion, Mia and Hermione left the bathroom, chatting together about their enthusiasm on the success of brewing the potion. When they came back up to the common room, they went to their dormitory to grab their presents for the boys, and carried them down the stairs and up to the boy's dorm, where Harry and Ron were still sleeping. Seeing their sleeping forms, Mia grinned wickedly. She signaled for Hermione to be quiet as she placed her presents at the end of Harry's bed. Moving slowly and quietly, she sneaked up to his left side, pulled the covers back a little, and yelled, "MERRY CHRISTMAS HARRY!"

Harry gave a shout of surprise and tumbled off the bed, taking his blankets with him. Ron also yelled out as he sat bolt upright in bed, staring wildly around for the source of all the noise. Mia started laughing herself silly, holding her side and covering her mouth as Harry's head popped up from the other side of the bed, his hair dishelved, and glaring as he put on his glasses. Then, his glare suddenly turned into a smirk, and before Mia could even blink, Harry leapt across the bed and tackled Mia to the ground, where the two of them rolled around, laughing loudly.

"Will you two knock it off?" Hermione said.

"What are you two doing here?" Ron mumbled sleepily.

"Happy Christmas to you, too," said Hermione, throwing him his present. "We've been up for nearly an hour, adding more lacewings to the potion. It's ready."

Harry stared upside down at Hermione from his position on the floor, where Mia had him pinned.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," said Hermione, sitting at the end of Ron's bed. "If we're going to do it, I say it should be tonight."

"That's brilliant. Mia, can you please let me up now?"

"No, I'm rather comfortable here, actually," she replied.

"Mia!"

"All right, all right," Mia chuckled, letting him up. The four friends spent some time enjoying their gifts. Mia gave Hermione a lovely silver friendship bracelet, along with a matching one for herself, with a book, lion and heart charm dangling from it. Hermione practically crushed Mia in a hug, chanting over and over again her thanks and how beautiful it was. For Ron, she gave him a box of candy and another poster of the Chudley Cannons, his favorite Quidditch team. And for Harry, Mia gave him a bronze compass that he could attach to his broom for long journeys, and a Quidditch jersey with the name "Potter" and the number seven on the back written in gold letters. Mia herself had gotten a set of barrettes from Hermione, a box of chocolate frogs from Ron, a couple books on potion making from Harry, some baked goods and earrings from her parents, some treacle fudge from Hagrid, and a brand new lavender sweater and cakes from Mrs. Weasley. At one point, Fred, George and Ginny came inside (although Ginny blushed upon seeing Harry). The morning was spent with some good laughs, and Mia offered some of her mother's homemade cookies to everyone while Harry offered to share his plum cake. Ginny was mostly quiet, but she smiled at Mia whenever she got her involved in the conversation.

Later on that night, Mia and the others were making their way down the staircase to head to the Christmas feast that was being held in the Great Hall. When they walked through the door, Mia, Hermione, and Ginny all gaped in awe, as they had never seen the Great Hall on Christmas Day. The twelve towering Christmas trees were all aglow with twinkling lights, the fireplace was roaring with warm, flickering flames, strings of holly and mistletoe was crisscrossed along the walls, and fake snow was falling from the ceiling. They all walked up to the single table that was sitting in the hall, where a couple Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and the teachers who were still in the castle were getting ready to eat. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were sitting at the far end of the table with very few other Slytherins. There was a bountiful amount of food on the polished wooden surface, with large roasted turkeys, yummy pudding, biscuits, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, vegetables, bread, and glasses of sparkling apple cider. Mia was greatly enjoying herself, and by the time they had eaten their second helping, she felt completely stuffed. Soon it was time for her and the others to leave so they could check on the potion, so she and Hermione dragged the boys out of the hall and away from the pudding so they could get to work.

"We still need a bit of the people you're changing into," said Hermione matter-of-factly as they were walking. "And obviously, it'll be best if you can get something of Crabbe's and Goyle's—they're Malfoy's best friends, he'll tell them anything. And we also need to make sure the real Crabbe and Goyle can't burst in on us while we're interrogating him."

"How are we going to do that?" Mia asked.

"I've got it all worked out," she went on smoothly, ignoring Harry's and Ron's stupefied faces. She held up two plump chocolate cakes. "I've filled these with a simple Sleeping Draught. All you have to do is make sure Crabbe and Goyle find them. You know how greedy they are, they're bound to eat them. Once they're asleep, pull out a few of their hairs and hide them in a broom closet."

Mia nodded while Harry and Ron looked incredulously at each other.

"Hermione, I don't think—"

"That could go seriously wrong—"

"The potion will be useless without Crabbe's and Goyle's hair," Hermione said sternly. "You do want to investigate Malfoy, don't you?"

"Oh, all right, all right," said Harry. "But why am I Goyle? Why can't you be him? And wait! What about you and Mia? Whose hair are you ripping out?"

"I've already got mine!" said Hermione brightly, pulling a tiny bottle out of her pocket and showing them the single hair inside it. "Remember Millicent Bulstrode wrestling with me at the Dueling Club? She left this on my robes when she was trying to strangle me! And she's gone home for Christmas—so I'll just have to tell the Slytherins I've decided to come back, the same as Mia. And Harry, Crabbe and Goyle are his friends, you and Ron are obviously best for the part."

"And I've got mine as well," Mia said, pulling out a bottle similar to Hermione's.

"How on earth did you get that?" asked Ron.

"You forget that I'm friends with your brothers Ron," Mia replied, grinning. "The other day Greengrass was walking down the corridor, and I took my chance. I _accidently _bumped into her, and took a strand of her hair while we were both picking up our books."

"So now that just leaves you two," Hermione stated. "I'm going to go up to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Make sure that Crabbe and Goyle find those cakes."

Hermione then bustled off to check on the Polyjuice Potion again and Ron turned to Harry with a doom-laden expression.

"Have you ever heard of a plan where so many things could go wrong?" he said.

"Oh come on Ron, it won't be so bad," Mia said.

"That's easy for you to say, you're not having bits of baboon hair in your cup," Ron grumbled.

"Well if you think that's bad, imagine how I'll feel just by looking at you too," Mia said matter-of-factly.

"Oi!" Ron and Harry exclaimed, causing Mia to laugh.

…

Stage one of their plan had worked fantastically. Mia watched with Harry and Ron as Crabbe and Goyle left the Great Hall, spotted the cakes that they had set on the banister, and started shoveling them into their mouth greedily. In the next moment, the two of them had dropped to the floor, landing with a loud thump. As soon as that was taken care of, Mia kept a lookout while Harry and Ron dragged both the Slytherins into the nearest cupboard. They stuffed them in quickly, panting and grunting from the weight, and once they had them inside, Harry and Ron reached down to pluck a couple hairs from their heads. When they came out, Mia shut the door to the cupboard and then they hastily made their way upstairs to meet Hermione in the bathroom. As they walked in, the whole bathroom was filled with black smoke, and they covered their mouths as they went over to the stall.

"Hermione, we got the hairs," Mia said. She heard the stall door unlock and Hermione face peered through.

"Good. And I sneaked these spare robes out of the laundry," Hermione said, holding up a small sack. "You'll need bigger sizes once you're Crabbe and Goyle."

Hermione explained to them that they only had an hour to change back into themselves, which didn't leave them very much time at all. Then she separated the potion into four glasses that she had resting on the toilet seat. Once that was done, she handed a glass to each of them, and Mia stared into hers, wrinkling her nose as the muddy looking potion still bubbled slightly. She grabbed the bottle out of her robes and then shook the hair into the glass. It hissed and frothed for a moment, but then it turned a pale shade of green. After they all added their hairs, they decided it was best to drink them in different stalls, as there wouldn't be any room once the changes took effect. Mia walked into the very first stall, carefully holding her glass in one hand and her clothes I the other.

"Ready?" Harry called.

"Ready," Mia said along with Ron and Hermione. Taking a deep breath and pinching her nose, Mia threw her head back and drank all the content of the potion, trying her best not to spit it all back up. Her face contorted into one of great disgust and she groaned softly as she hunched over, instantly feeling her stomach start to grumble. A burning sensation was spreading through her body, and her skin felt hot, as if it were being melted away from her body. Through all this, Mia felt herself start to grow a couple inches, her hands started to shrink as well as her feet, and she felt her long brown hair grow shorter and shorter until it just reached her shoulders. Her clothes started becoming a tad too tight, especially in the chest area. Then, it all suddenly stopped, and Mia found herself gasping as the burning feeling left her body, and her skin once again felt cool. Her knees shaking, she straightened herself up in the stall, feeling extremely weird. Feeling constricted, Mia pulled off her Gryffindor uniform and put on the silver and green robes of Slytherin house. Once she was fully dressed, she heard the low rasp of Goyle's voice.

"You guys okay?"

"Yeah," came Crabbe's voice.

"I'm all right," Mia answered in a voice that was a little higher than her own. Unlocking the door to her stall, Mia stepped out to see Harry staring in the mirror, scratching his ear and watching as Goyle did the same. He turned around to look at Mia and, although she knew what to expect, it was still surprising to see Harry this way. His hair was no longer untidy, but more tames, and it had grown longer. He was much taller, and fuller around the waist, and his green eyes were gone, replaced by murky brown ones. Mia looked away from him to look at herself in the mirror. Daphne Greengrass stared back at her, her blonde hair as straight as a pin as it fell to her shoulders, her side bangs hanging just over her pale blue eyes. She stood about a head shorter than Harry, and she crossed her arms over her extended chest in embarrassment.

"This is so weird," she said.

"Tell me about it," said Harry. At that moment, Ron exited the stall and came over towards them, his big gorilla arms dangling at his sides, with a brown pudding bowl haircut and wide eyes. He pinched his chubby cheeks and his nose, as if he couldn't believe what was happening.

"This is unbelievable," he breathed.

"We should get going," Mia said. "We still need to find the Slytherin common room."

"I just hope we can find someone to follow," said Harry. "Hermione, are you ready?"

"I—I don't think I'm going to come after all," Hermione said in a high-pitched voice. "You go on without me."

"Hermione, we know Millicent Bulstrode's ugly, no one's going to know it's you—" said Ron.

"No—really—I don't think I'll come. You three hurry up, you're wasting time —"

"Hermione, are you okay?" said Mia worriedly through the door. "Did something go wrong with the potion?"

"Fine—I'm fine—go on—"

"All right, but we'll meet you back here, okay?" Harry called before taking Mia's arm. "Come on Mia, we have to go."

Mia was reluctant to leave Hermione there alone, but she knew Harry was right. They couldn't waste any more time than they already have. So she nodded and then followed Harry and Ron out of the bathroom, hoping that this would work, and that it was worth all this trouble.

**Rate and Review Please! **


	12. Interrogations and Valentines

**Hiii! Wow, this is the fastest I've updated in a while! A whole two days early, hahaha. I'm so happy with all the reviews I got for the last chapter, thank you all so much! I really hope you all like this one, and I would love to get even more reviews. ^u^ Tell me what you like, don't like, and stuff like that. I know you're all wondering what will happen with Mia, with whether she will get petrified or not, and that should be revealed either in the next chapter or the one after. So not too much longer my dears!**

**Again, any comments or question, you know what to do. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter are not mine. **

Chapter Twelve: Interrogations and Valentines

MPOV

It took a little while for Mia, Harry and Ron to find the Slytherin common room. When they reached the entrance hall, Ron had run up to a girl that was walking out of the dungeons to ask her where it was, only to find out that she was actually a Ravenclaw. Having no idea where they were going, the three of them set of on their own, hoping to find another Slytherin to follow, as they had no clue on how to get inside the common room once they found it. It was cold as they walked through the passageways, and Mia kept her arms folded over her chest, shivering. They walked around for what seemed like forever until they heard movement coming from up ahead.

"Ha!" said Ron excitedly. "There's one of them now!"

A tall figure was emerging from a side room, but as they hurried nearer, however, their hearts sank. It wasn't a Slytherin, it was Percy.

"What're you doing down here?" said Ron in surprise. Percy looked affronted, and Mia kicked Ron's foot.

"That," Percy said stiffly, "is none of your business. It's Crabbe, isn't it?"

"Wh—oh, yeah," said Ron.

"Well, get off to your dormitories," said Percy sternly. "It's not safe to go wandering around dark corridors these days.'"

"You are," Ron pointed out.

"I," said Percy, drawing himself up, "am a prefect. Nothing's about to attack _me_."

Before anyone could say anything else, they heard a voice behind them, and despite how she felt, Mia was glad to hear it. She turned around to see Malfoy coming up the passage towards them.

"There you are," he drawled, looking at Harry and Ron. "Have you two been pigging out in the Great Hall all this time? I've been looking for you-I want to show you something really funny. Daphne? What are you doing here? I thought you went home for the holidays?"

Mia took a breath before answering.

"There's been a change of plans," she said, hoping she sounded convincing. "My parents decided to go abroad for the holidays, so I had to stay."

"Really? Well, I guess you're welcome to come with us," Malfoy said before turning to look at Percy.

"And what're you doing down here, Weasley?" he sneered.

"You want to show a bit more respect to a school prefect!" Percy replied, narrowing his eyes. "I don't like your attitude!'"

Malfoy sneered and motioned for Harry, Mia and Ron to follow him. Mia wanted to apologize to Percy, but she knew she couldn't. She couldn't do anything that could give them away, so she kept her mouth shut and followed the boys down the passageway, praying that she would be able to get through this little chat with Malfoy without strangling him.

"That Peter Weasley—"

"Percy," Ron corrected Malfoy automatically.

"Whatever. I've noticed him sneaking around a lot lately. And I bet I know what he's up to. He thinks he's going to catch Slytherin's heir single-handed."

He gave a short, derisive laugh while Harry and Ron exchanged excited looks, and Mia was listening intently. They walked for just a little longer until Malfoy paused by a stretch of bare, damp stone wall.

"What's the new password again?" he said to Harry.

"Er—" said Harry.

"Oh, yeah—_pure-blood!_" said Malfoy. Mia watched, amazed, as a stone door concealed in the wall slid open, revealing the entrance to the Slytherin common room. Malfoy marched through it, and Mia, Harry and Ron were quick to follow him. As far as Mia knew, she didn't know anyone who has been to the other houses common rooms (except possibly Fred and George to pull a prank), so she took this moment to really look around.

The Slytherin common room was certainly big. It was stretched out a good length, and, to Mia's astonishment, it seemed to be underneath the lake. There was one section of the common room that had large widows raised towards the ceiling, and she could see the dark ripples of the water. Mia wondered if it was possible to see the Giant Squid during the day. There were stone walls all around, with green tapestries, and there were round lamps hanging from the ceiling on chains. A fire was crackling under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of them, and some of the Slytherins were silhouetted around it in high-backed chairs. The entire room was colored themed the same as their own common room, only with green and silver instead of scarlet and gold. There was two sets of ebony doors at the far wall leading off to what must have been the dormitories. Malfoy told them to wait for him and then disappeared through one of the doors. While they waited, Mia, Harry and Ron took a seat on the loveseat, trying their best to look at home. Mia leaned back into the cushions, whereas Harry and Ron sat a little stiffly.

"Relax," she whispered to them. Harry and Ron nodded and let loose some of their tense muscles just as Malfoy came back into the room, holding what looked like a newspaper clipping. He came over to them and thrust it under Ron's nose.

"That'll give you a laugh," he said with a smirk.

Mia watched as Ron read the clipping, and his eyes widened in shock. He gave a short forced laugh and then handed the clipping over to Harry. Mia leaned in to see what the clipping was about, and she had to stop her mouth from opening in shock.

**INQUIRY AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC**

_Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, was today fined fifty Galleons for bewitching a Muggle car. Mr. Lucius Malfoy, a governor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where the enchanted car crashed earlier this year, called today for Mr. Weasley's resignation. _

"_Weasley has brought the Ministry into disrepute," Mr. Malfoy told our reporter. "He is clearly unfit to draw up our laws and his ridiculous Muggle Protection Act should be scrapped immediately."_

_Mr. Weasley was unavailable for comment, although his wife told reporters to clear off or she'd set the family ghoul on them._

"Well?" said Malfoy impatiently as Harry handed the clipping back to him. "Don't you think it's funny?"

"Ha, ha," said Harry bleakly.

"Set the family ghoul on them?" Mia scoffed, trying to bite back a snappy retort to the smug looking blonde. "Some people are just pathetic."

"Of course they are, what do you expect from a family like that? Arthur Weasley loves Muggles so much he should snap his wand in half and go and join them," said Malfoy scornfully. "You'd never know the Weasleys were pure-bloods, the way they behave."

Ron's face was contorted with fury, and Mia was getting very worried—Ron didn't take nasty comments on his family very well, and she hoped that Malfoy wouldn't push him to his breaking point.

"What's up with you, Crabbe?" snapped Malfoy.

"Stomach ache," Ron grunted.

"Well, go up to the hospital wing and give all those Mudbloods a kick from me," said Malfoy, snickering. "You know, I'm surprised the Daily Prophet hasn't reported all these attacks yet. I suppose Dumbledore's trying to hush it all up. He'll be sacked if it doesn't stop soon. Father's always said old Dumbledore's the worst thing that's ever happened to this place. He loves Muggle-borns. A decent headmaster would never have let slime like that Creevey in."

Malfoy started taking pictures with an imaginary camera and did a cruel, but accurate impression of Colin.

"'Potter, can I have your picture, Potter? Can I have your autograph? Can I lick your shoes, please, Potter?"' he squealed in a high voice.

Mia wanted nothing more than to slap Malfoy so hard that he would be seeing stars, but she bit her tongue and started laughing at the ridiculous impression. Malfoy smiled at her but dropped his hands when he looked at Harry and Ron.

"What's the matter with you two?"

Mia gave a sharp nudge in Harry's side, and he and Ron forced themselves to laugh. Malfoy seemed satisfied—perhaps Crabbe and Goyle were always slow on the uptake.

"Saint Potter, the Mudbloods' friend," said Malfoy slowly. "He's another one with no proper wizard feeling, or he wouldn't go around with those jumped up Mudbloods Granger and Thatcher. Having the nerve to say that they're proper witches when they're just common filth plucked from the ground. And people honestly think that _Potter's_ Slytherin's heir!"

Mia sat up straighter in her seat, watching Malfoy intently, holding her breath…

"I wish _I_ knew who it is," said Malfoy. "I could help them."

Ron's jaw dropped so that Crabbe looked even more clueless than usual. Mia looked over at him discreetly with the best "I told you so" expression that she could muster. She knew it! Malfoy may be an arrogant prat, but she knew he didn't have the brains for something like this. Harry appeared shocked as well, but he quickly spoke up.

"You must have some idea who's behind it all though," he said.

"You know I haven't, Goyle, how many times do I have to tell you?" snapped Malfoy. "And Father won't tell me anything about the last time the Chamber was opened either. Of course, it was fifty years ago, so it was before his time, but he knows all about it, and he says that it was all kept quiet and it'll look suspicious if I know too much about it. But I know one thing—last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood died. So I bet it's a matter of time before one of them is killed this time…as for me—I hope it's Granger or Thatcher."

Ron was clenching Crabbe's gigantic fists, and Harry looked positively murderous, his eyes blazing in fury. Acting fast, Mia scooted closer to Harry and lightly pressed her arm against his, trying to get him to calm down, and she sent Ron a warning look before turning to Malfoy.

"Do you know if the person who opened the Chamber last time was caught?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah…whoever it was got expelled," said Malfoy. "They're probably still in Azkaban."

"Azkaban?" said Mia, her eyes widening slightly. "You mean the wizard prison?"

"The very one," Malfoy answered. "Father says to keep my head down and let the Heir of Slytherin get on with it. He says the school needs ridding of all the Mudblood filth, but not to get mixed up in it. Of course, he's got a lot on his plate at the moment. You know the Ministry of Magic raided our manor last week? Luckily, they didn't find much. Father's got some very valuable Dark Arts stuff. But luckily, we've got our own secret chamber under the drawing-room floor—"

"Ho!" said Ron. Mia glared at him as Malfoy and Harry both looked at him. Then, to Mia's horror, she saw that Ron's hair was starting to shift from brown to flaming red, and his nose was slowly starting grow longer. Mia carelessly reached up to flick her hair out of her face and she felt that her hair was also starting to grow longer. It looked like their time was up.

Harry and Ron both jumped to their feet, with Ron muttering about getting medicine for his stomach, and then the two of them rushed out of the room. Mia, while still moving quickly, took a more calm approach.

"I don't know what's up with those two," she said. "Well thank you for allowing me to sit with you M—Draco," she said. "I have to go to the Owlery to send a letter. I'll see you later."

Without waiting for his response, Mia nearly sprinted out of the common room after Harry and Ron, and as soon as she was out in the passageway, she broke into a run, feeling her body becoming smaller and smaller as she went. She caught up with Harry and Ron in the entrance hall, spotting Ron's flaming red hair, and hearing the clunking of their much-too-big shoes clamoring against the floor. They could hear a muffled pounding coming from the closet door where they locked Crabbe and Goyle inside, and that's where Harry and Ron deposited their shoes before running up the staircase, with Mia right behind them. She almost fell due to her own shoes, but Harry pulled her back up so they could keep on running. They didn't rest until they made it back to the bathroom.

"Well, it wasn't a complete waste of time," Ron panted, closing the door behind them. "I know we still haven't found out who's doing the attacks, but I'm going to write to Dad tomorrow and tell him to check under the Malfoys' drawing room."

"When you do, tell your dad to take a picture of Lucius Malfoy's face—that's something I definitely want to see," said Mia as she straightened up. She looked at herself in the mirror and saw that she had returned to normal, with her long brown hair and bright, dark blue eyes. Mia smiled and turned around just as Ron started hammering on the stall door.

"Hermione, come out, we've got loads to tell you—"

"Go away!" Hermione squeaked. Harry and Ron looked at each other while Mia walked over and knocked more softly.

"Mione, what's the matter?" she said. "You must be back to normal by now, we are—"

At that moment, Moaning Myrtle glided suddenly through the stall door, looking incredibly happy and gleeful.

"Ooooooh, wait till you see," she said. "It's awful—"

"Hermione, open the door," said Mia, who was really starting to worry. "Please come out."

There was a brief silence, and just when Mia was thinking about opening the door herself, she heard the click of the lock, and in the next second, Hermione stepped out, her robes pulled over her head.

"What's up?" said Ron uncertainly. "Have you still got Millicent's nose or something?"

Hermione let out what sounded like a chocked sob and then she let her robes fall. Mia and Harry gasped as Ron backed into the sink, his mouth open in shock and bewilderment. Hermione's face was covered in black fur, with pointed ears, whiskers, and yellow eyes that were filled with tears.

"It was a c-cat hair!" she howled. "M-Millicent Bulstrode m-must have a cat! And the p-potion isn't supposed to be used for animal transformations!"

"Don't worry Hermione," Mia said soothingly, placing an arm around Hermione's shoulder as the girl continued to cry. "It'll be okay."

"You'll be teased something dreadful," said Myrtle happily.

"Not the time Myrtle," said Mia, glaring.

"It's okay, Hermione," said Harry quickly. "We'll take you up to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey never asks too many questions…"

"I can't go out like this!" Hermione exclaimed frantically, covering her face again. "I'm staying right here!"

"Hermione come on, you can't stay here," Mia sighed reasonably. "We have to get this fixed. Do you want to look like a cat forever?"

It took a long time for Mia, Harry and Ron to convince Hermione to leave the bathroom, and once they did, Moaning Myrtle floated above them, still smiling.

"Wait till everyone finds out you've got a _tail!_" she called excitedly.

…

Mia stayed with Hermione the whole time that she was in the hospital wing, which ended up being for several weeks. During that time, the rest of the students came back from their holiday break, and when Hermione was nowhere to be seen, they had all assumed that she had been attacked. Yet somehow it was leaked that she was in the hospital wing, and Mia had to assist Madame Pomfrey in chasing them all off. In the end, Madame Pomfrey had to draw up the curtains around Hermione's bed in order to save her the embarrassment of being seen with a furry face. Mia went to visit her every chance she got, while Harry and Ron came to see her every evening, bringing her each day's homework. Despite being stuck in bed, Hermione point blank refused to miss out on any of her work. During her lunch breaks, Mia would usually stay in the hospital wing and study with Hermione and go over their notes together.

"If I'd sprouted whiskers, I'd take a break from work," said Ron, tipping a stack of books onto Hermione's bedside table one evening.

"Don't be silly, Ron, I've got to keep up," said Hermione briskly. "I don't suppose you've got any new leads?"

"Nothing," said Harry gloomily. "Malfoy was our chance—since it's not him, we're not sure who else it could be."

"Hermione?" said Mia, pointing to something sticking out of her pillow. "What is that?"

"Just a get well card," said Hermione hastily. She tried to stuff it out of sight, but Ron was too quick for her. He pulled it out, flicked it open, and read aloud:

_"To Miss Granger, wishing you a speedy recovery, from your concerned teacher, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award."_

"You sleep with this under your pillow?" Ron said, looking disgusted.

"I wasn't kidding when I said she worships the idiot," said Mia with a shrug of her shoulders. Hermione glared at her, but Mia jut returned it with a smile. They stayed with Hermione for a while longer until Ron and Harry decided to head off a little early to start the homework Snape had assigned them for the day. Once they were gone, Mia made herself more comfortable on Hermione's bed.

"I really wish we could figure out who this heir is," she said. "I hate the idea of more Muggleborns getting hurt."

"Me too," said Hermione. "But at least they're not seriously hurt though—I mean, they've only been petrified, and that can easily be cured with the Mandrakes."

"That's actually something I've been thinking about," said Mia thoughtfully. "I mean, legend has it that this monster is supposed to dispose of all those the heir finds unworthy to learn magic, right? Well, if the Heir of Slytherin wants to get rid of the Muggleborns so badly, they would just have the monster kill them right? So why is it that no one has died yet? I don't think the heir would have gone through so much trouble just to have their victims turned to stone for a few months."

"You do have a point," Hermione said slowly. "I mean, this monster has the ability to petrify people when it can possibly kill some other way. It's a good thing that no one is dead yet, but why?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Mione," Mia sighed. "Unless we can get any more clues as to what this monster is, we're stumped for right now."

"I suppose you're right," Hermione muttered, leaning back against her pillows with a defeated look on her face. "You shouldn't stay here for too much longer Mia—it's already dark out."

"Don't worry, I'm not walking back to the common room by myself," Mia assured her with a smile. "Fred and George have been sneaking off to the kitchens the last couple of nights, and they always come by to make sure I'm not alone—they're worried about me."

"And they should be," said Hermione. "I don't want anything to happen to you Mia."

"I don't want anything to happen to you either, Mione," Mia said softly. "You're my best friend—I wouldn't know what to do if you got hurt."

Hermione gave Mia a warm smile and then she leaned forward and pulled Mia in for a tight hug, and Mia giggled slightly due to Hermione's whiskers tickling her cheek. Mia spent the next fifteen minutes talking with Hermione before the doors to the ward opened and the Weasley twins came striding in, their chests puffed out and their heads high, a basket no doubt stuffed with snacks swinging from Fred's arm.

"Your escorts are here, my lady!" George announced, bowing low to the ground. Mia giggled at this and stood up from the bed.

"You know, you guys really don't have to do this," she said. "I'll be fine walking on my own."

"Until the halls of this school are safe and monster-free, we will stand by your side and make sure no harm comes to you," Fred said, lifting an imaginary sword. "Slytherin's beast doesn't stand a chance against the wonderfully noble, brave, strong, and dashingly handsome Weasley men. Come swift, dear lady, before the cold chill of night descends its evil upon us all!"

Without another word, George came over towards them, and Mia squealed as he scooped her up under her legs and started running her out of the hospital wing bridal style, with Fred in the lead, still carrying his sword and crying, "Away! Away!"

"See you tomorrow, Mione!" Mia yelled as they raced past the door and down the corridor.

Thankfully, it wasn't too long before Hermione was able to leave the hospital wing, de-whiskered, tail-less, and fur-free. Hermione was very happy to be back to her normal self, and she was almost skipping when Mia went to go see her the afternoon she was released. The two girls were laughing and chatting together as they walked through the corridors back to the Gryffindor common room, and neither one even noticed when Malfoy and his cronies sneered at them as they walked past. Mia was glad that Hermione was feeling better, and she couldn't help but smile the entire time that they walked. When they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, they gave her the password (Twittlebird) and walked inside. They found Harry and Ron sitting at a corner table by themselves, and Mia took Hermione's hand, dragging her over to them.

"Our Mione is back!" she said happily, plopping her down into a seat. "A not a single hairball on the way back either."

Ron chuckled at her while Harry smiled.

"Good to see you're doing okay Hermione," Harry said.

"Thanks," Hermione said. "What are you guys up to?"

"Actually, there's something I need to show you," Harry replied, lowering his voice, and glancing around to make sure no one was watching them. He reached into his bag and then pulled out a very familiar looking little black book.

"Harry, what are you doing with Ginny's diary?" Mia asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"What?" said Ron. "Ginny doesn't have a diary."

"Yes she does, I've seen it," said Mia. "She writes in it all the time—she got it over the summer."

"But this isn't hers though," Harry explained, showing her the front, where there was a printed date and some initials spelling out the letters T.M Riddle.

"We found this a few days ago in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom," said Harry. "She flooded the entire place because someone tried to chuck it and threw it right through her in the toilet. It's fifty years old, it belonged to a student who went here, and he won an award."

"Oh," said Mia, staring at the diary. "It looks exactly like the one Ginny has though…"

"It might have hidden powers," said Hermione enthusiastically, taking the diary and looking at it closely.

"If it has, it's hiding them very well," said Ron. "Maybe it's shy. I don't know why you don't chuck it yourself, Harry."

"I wish I knew why someone _did_ try to chuck it," said Harry. "I wouldn't mind knowing how Riddle got an award for special services to Hogwarts either."

"Could've been anything," said Ron. "Maybe he got thirty O.W.L.s or saved a teacher from the giant squid. Maybe he murdered Myrtle. That would've done everyone a favor."

"Wait a minute," Mia said slowly, looking over at Hermione. She could tell by the look on her face that she had just thought about the same thing Mia was.

"What?" said Ron, looking from one to the other.

"Well, the Chamber of Secrets was opened fifty years ago, wasn't it?" Mia said. "That's what Malfoy said."

"Yeah…" said Ron.

"And this diary is fifty years old," said Hermione, tapping it excitedly.

"So?"

"Oh, Ron, wake up," snapped Hermione. "We know the person who opened the Chamber last time was expelled fifty years ago. We know T. M. Riddle got an award for special services to the school fifty years ago. Well, what if Riddle got his special award for catching the Heir of Slytherin? His diary would probably tell us everything—where the Chamber is, and how to open it, and what sort of creature lives in it—the person who's behind the attacks this time wouldn't want that lying around, would they?"

"That's a _brilliant_ theory, Hermione," said Ron, "There's just one tiny little flaw. _There's nothing written in his diary._"

"What do you mean?" asked Mia, confused.

"The pages are blank," Harry answered, showing it to her. "Not even a dentist appointment."

"It might be invisible ink!" Hermione whispered, taking out her wand. She tapped the diary three times and said, _"Aparecium!"_

Nothing happened. Undaunted, Hermione shoved her hand back into her bag and pulled out what appeared to be a bright red eraser.

"It's a Revealer, I got it in Diagon Alley," she said. She rubbed hard on January first, but nothing happened. Mia didn't know what it was, but there was just something about the diary that didn't seem right.

"I'm telling you, there's nothing to find in there," said Ron. "Riddle just got a diary for Christmas and couldn't be bothered filling it in."

"Are you guys sure that this diary is safe?" asked Mia uncertainly. "I mean, it's not cursed or anything, is it?"

"It hasn't done anything yet," said Harry. "It's just a book—what could be dangerous about it?"

Mia didn't answer, but she kept staring at the book in Harry's hands. She's read enough about cursed objects to know that not everything is what it seems at first. She couldn't explain it, but she just didn't like the idea of Harry finding this mysterious diary in the middle of a flooded bathroom with nothing written in it. And if they can't get it to reveal anything, then there could be a secret that the owner of this diary didn't want to be known. Somehow, in the very back of her mind, Mia knew that this wasn't an ordinary diary.

…..

Amazingly, the next few weeks passed without any more attacks on students. The atmosphere around Hogwarts was steadily growing calmer and more relaxed, as people's fears were starting to simmer down some. To add to the good news, Madame Pomfrey had announced that the Mandrakes were close to becoming of proper age for them to be used as the antidote for everyone who had been petrified. Mia found relief at this—she was happy that soon they would have Colin, Justin, and Sir Nick back with them, and that Filch would have his beloved Mrs. Norris back. She didn't know what she would think if someone else at Hogwarts was attacked. Mia vaguely wondered how Colin and Justin's parents were coping. She was sure that they had been informed of what had happened to their children, and Mia was positive that they, especially Colin's parents, were still worried and saddened over their sons, and she hoped that the news of the Mandrakes would quickly be passed onto them. Since Justin seemed to be a good friend or acquaintance of Jenna, Mia even took to going with her to visit him in the hospital wing.

"Do you really think that him and Colin Creveey will be all right?" asked Jenna.

"I'm sure they will Jenna," Mia assured her with a smile. "Madame Pomfrey says that the Mandrakes will be ready in just a couple months."

"I know, I'm just still a little nervous," Jenna admitted. "I know there haven't been any attacks in a while, but you never know—it could happen the moment we're not expecting it."

"Well, all we can do now is hope, and make sure that we're never alone when we're going to class," Mia said. Jenna nodded as the girls walked through the corridor that led to the hospital wing, and once they entered, they saw that Hannah Abbott and Ernie Macmillan were standing by Justin's bed. As Mia and Jenna approached, Ernie looked over and a scowl came across his face when he saw Mia.

"Hi Hannah," greeted Mia. "Hi Ernie."

"Hi Mia," Hannah said with a soft smile.

"How is he doing?" Mia asked.

"All right I suppose," Hannah replied, looking at Justin. "Madame Pomfrey says that he can't hear us when we speak to him—we're not sure what they're thinking or feeling, but they might not even be thinking or feeling anything. She guesses that they've gone more into a numb-like state, and that when they wake up, they'll feel like they've been taking a long nap."

"Well I'm sure that's a good thing though," said Mia. "I mean, at least he's not in any pain."

"And how would you know that?" said Ernie, his scowl deepening. "Ever been petrified before?"

"No, but whatever creature did this to Justin may have possibly killed him if it had the chance," Mia answered calmly. "We should be lucky that he was only petrified."

"I can't see how you can be so blind to all this," said Ernie angrily. "We all know that it was Potter who did this, he set Slytherin's monster after Justin."

"Ernie," Jenna said warningly.

"And I've told you before, Macmillan," Mia said, her eyes narrowed. "Harry didn't do this to Justin, or anyone else! He was in the common room with me, Ron and Hermione for most of the morning, and we were walking around the rest of the time. I'm sure you remember us talking to you after that pleasant conversation we dropped in on."

"This coming from Potter's best friend," Ernie retorted. "How do we know that you're not in on it?"

"Ernie, stop!" Jenna snapped, but Mia spoke over her.

"How dare you!" she practically growled. "I would never hurt anyone! In case you've forgotten, I'm Muggleborn! Why would I go around helping to attack witches and wizards who are like me? At least my friends and I are trying to figure out who the heir actually is instead of pointing fingers and blaming other people."

Mia didn't wait around to hear Ernie's response, because she turned on her heel and stormed out of the hospital wing. Fuming, Mia made her way through the corridors, not quite knowing where she was going, when she suddenly turned the corner and walked headfirst into someone else, and she fell down backwards onto the floor. From there, she looked up to see that she had run into Alex.

"Oh Mia, I'm sorry!" he said quickly as he stooped down to help her. "I didn't see you."

"It's fine," Mia muttered, getting back to her feet. "I'm sorry for not paying attention."

"Are you all right, Mia?" Alex asked, seeing her expression. "You look upset."

"I'm all right," Mia sighed. "Just frustrated. I went to go see Justin in the hospital wing with Jenna, and Ernie Macmillan was there."

"Ah," said Alex, an exasperated look on his face. "Say no more Mia. Don't listen to what he says, he doesn't know what he's talking about."

"I know, but it's just so easy for him to get to me," Mia said. "I can't help but feel angry when I'm with him."

"He's saying horrible things about your best friend," Alex said wisely. "I honestly don't expect any other reaction from you. Try to understand Mia—Ernie's a pureblood, he was raised based on some wizarding prejudices, and having negative feelings against Parselmouths is one of them, unfortunately."

"I suppose," Mia said. "I guess I'm just a little overprotective, huh?"

"That's the understatement of the year," Alex chuckled. "Come on Mia, cheer up—Valentine's Day is just around the corner."

"Valentine's Day?" Mia said, raising an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you're getting happy and excited over _Valentine's Day."_

"Of course not," Alex replied, looking slightly revolted. "That's more of a girl thing, isn't it? Fussing over pretty flowers, where they're going for dinner, expecting guys to get them chocolates, and diamonds, and take them on a romantic getaway—it's madness. I feel bad for the saps who have to deal with all that nonsense. All that lovey dovey stuff makes me feel sick."

"Typical boy," Mia giggled, rolling her eyes. "But I'm not really all for that kind of thing either, to tell you the truth. I mean it's a nice day to spend with your boyfriend, but it's just a little much."

"That's what they all say," Alex said. "Don't worry Mia, someday one guy is going to make you feel all warm inside, and you won't mind him showering you with all kinds of gifts."

"I don't need to be showered with gifts," said Mia. "Having him will be enough."

"Oh no, you're turning all mushy on me, Mia!" Alex gasped mock horror. "You're turning into one of _them!_"

Mia giggled at this little façade and once again rolled her eyes at him

"Thanks Alex, that cheered me up," Mia said.

"I aim to please," Alex said. "Can you just imagine it—Valentine's Day with Lockhart here? Nearly every girl in the school will be fawning over him. Mark my words, he's going to pull of something ridiculously horrible and sickenly sweet that will make us all want to vomit."

…..

_Alex Parker, I am going to kill you!_

That was all that ran through Mia's mind on the morning of February fourteenth. The minutes Mia had stepped into the Great Hall with Hermione and Ron (Harry was still asleep due to a late Quidditch practice), she was suddenly blinded by a never-ending wave of pink. Large pink flowers coated the walls, heart shaped confetti was falling from the ceiling, and pink tablecloths were spread out over the house tables. This had Lockhart written all over it, and the moment Mia sat down, she turned in her seat and sent a deathly glare over at the Hufflepuff table, where Alex was currently smacking his head against the table, clearly not liking the fact that his prediction came true. They hadn't been eating for very long before Harry came up to them, taking a seat across from Ron.

"What's going on?" Harry asked them.

Ron pointed to the teachers' table, apparently too disgusted to speak. It seemed every other teacher besides Lockhart was looking stony-faced and extremely displeased.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" Lockhart shouted. "And may I thank the forty-six people who have so far sent me cards!

Mia whipped around to face Hermione, who instantly went red at her pointed look.

"Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all," Lockhart continued. "And it doesn't end here!"

Lockhart clapped his hands and through the doors to the entrance hall marched a dozen surly-looking dwarfs. Not just any dwarfs, however—Lockhart had them all wearing golden wings and carrying harps. Mia mouth dropped open as she gaped at them. Lockhart couldn't possibly be serious, could he?

"My friendly, card-carrying cupids!" beamed Lockhart. "They will be roving around the school today delivering your valentines! And the fun doesn't stop here! I'm sure my colleagues will want to enter into the spirit of the occasion! Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion! And while you're at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I've ever met, the sly old dog!"

Professor Flitwick buried his face in his hands while Snape was looking as though the first person to ask him for a Love Potion would be force-fed poison.

"Please, Hermione, tell me you weren't one of the forty-six," said Ron. Hermione suddenly became very interested in searching her bag for her schedule and didn't answer. Mia giggled at this.

"Are you expecting any Valentine's from a certain someone, Mione?" she asked sweetly.

"Shut up Mia!" Hermione said, her face going red once again.

"I'll never understand girls," Mia heard Ron mutter to Harry.

All day long, the dwarfs kept barging into their classes to deliver valentines, much to the annoyance of the teachers. Some of them were very sweet and thoughtful, while others were downright funny and embarrassing. They kept seeing the dwarfs everywhere they went and, to Mia's slight amusement, one of the dwarfs came running up to Harry while they were on their way to Charms.

"Oi, you! Harry Potter!" he shouted.

"Run for it Harry," Mia advised. Harry didn't need telling twice, as he started to quickly go through the crowd, trying to get away. However, due to kicking people in the shins to get them out of his way, the dwarf easily made his way over to Harry and latched onto his back in order to get him to stay.

"I've got a musical message to deliver to Harry Potter in person," he said.

"Not here," Harry hissed, tugging on his bag. "Let go!"

"Stay still!" grunted the dwarf, giving a good tug. With a loud ripping noise, Harry's bag split in two, all the contents scattering and his ink bottle shattering, spilling ink over everything. Harry scrambled around, trying to pick it all up before the dwarf started singing, causing something of a holdup in the corridor.

"What's going on here?" came a cold, drawling voice. Mia groaned as none other than Draco Malfoy came strolling into the scene, a grin on his face when he saw the scene before him.

"What's this? Have you finally gotten a Valentine from you lover, Potter?" Malfoy said, looking pointedly at Mia.

"Shut up Malfoy!" Mia snapped.

"What's all this commotion?" said another familiar voice as Percy Weasley arrived. No one answered him, as the dwarf, tired of Harry struggling, knocked Harry right over to the ground and sat down right on his ankles so he couldn't move an inch.

"Right," he said. "Here is your singing valentine, from a friend of Colin Creevey:

_His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,_

_His hair is as dark as a blackboard,_

_I wish he was mine, he's really divine,_

_The hero who conquered the Dark Lord."_

Mia could tell from Harry's beet red face that he wished he could just vanish into the floor. Almost everyone burst out laughing at the Valentine, especially Malfoy, who was starting to cry. The dwarf finally got off of Harry's knees and went off to deliver his next message. Mia, ignoring the laughs, went over to Harry and repaired the split in his bag so they could gather the rest of his things.

"Off you go, off you go, the bell rang five minutes ago, off to class, now," Percy said, trying to break up the crowd. "And _you_, Malfoy—"

Mia and Harry glanced over and saw Malfoy stoop down, and snatch up something. With a jolt, Mia realized that he'd got Riddle's diary.

"Give that back," said Harry quietly.

"Wonder what Potter's written in this?" said Malfoy, grinning broadly. A sudden hush fell over the onlookers. Mia saw Ginny looking at the diary, her face extremely pale and her eyes wide.

"Hand it over, Malfoy," said Percy sternly.

"When I've had a look," said Malfoy, waving the diary tauntingly at Harry. But Mia, having enough of this, whipped out her wand and pointed it at Malfoy.

"_Expelliarmus!" _she shouted. Then, the diary went shooting out of Malfoy's hand, flying high into the air. Moving so she was directly in front of it, Mia caught the diary in her hands and sent a grin of her own over at Malfoy.

"Mia!" said Percy loudly. "No magic in the corridors. I'll have to report this, you know!"

"That's fine Percy," she said. "Just make sure you write in detail _exactly _how I outdid Malfoy at his own game."

Malfoy was looking furious, his eyes glaring daggers into her own, but Mia stood her ground, glaring right back at him. He made an aggravated sound and then turned on his heel to march off down the corridor, looking over at Ginny as he walked past.

"I don't think Potter liked your Valentine very much," he sneered at her, making her pale cheeks quickly burn red. Mia kept on glaring at Malfoy's retreating back before she handed the diary back to Harry.

"Thanks Mia," he said.

"Don't worry about it Harry," she said. "Just be careful—I'm not sure what powers that diary might have, but I don't want to see the likes of Malfoy getting his hands on it."

Harry nodded, and then they continued on their way up to Flitwick's class with Ron and Hermione.

"That was a cute Valentine you got Harry," Hermione commented.

"Yeah, very cute," Ron sniggered as Harry went red again. "'_His eyes are as green as a fresh prickled toad—"_

Harry responded by punching Ron in the arm.

"Come on Ron, stop being so mean," said Mia as they entered the classroom. "Ginny probably did write that—you know she likes Harry."

"Likes? She's obsessed," Ron stated.

"Let's just get to work," Harry mumbled, sitting down at the desk and taking out his ink-drenched books. Ron sat down next to him while Hermione and Mia sat down at the desk in front of him. They quickly got involved in the lesson, but barely even ten minutes into Professor Flitwick's lecture, the door to the classroom opened and another dwarf came inside.

"Oh no," Harry moaned, dropping his head into his hands. However, he didn't need to, because the dwarf, apparently, wasn't there for him.

"Which one of you here is Amelia Thatcher?" the dwarf called. The class went silent and Mia sat frigid in her seat, her eyes wide. Everyone turned their heads towards her before she could even consider hiding under the desk, and she cursed them all for giving her away. She could feel her cheeks start to burn as the dwarf made his way over to her, his harp in his hand, and she tried to ignore Ron's muffled snickers from behind her. Mia knew there's was no point in trying to run after seeing the disaster Harry had just went though. So she waited with a sense of doom looming over her as the dwarf came to stand next to her. She was clutching her quill tightly, her mind spinning. Who on earth would ever send her a Valentine? Nobody liked her like that!

"Here's your Valentine from an anonymous friend," the dwarf said, and then he began to sing.

"_Her voice is as soft as a rose's petal_

_Her smile brighter than the suns of May_

_Don't ever be blue, be happy being you_

_And have a Happy Valentine's Day."_

Mia only felt her cheeks go brighter as Hermione made an "aw" face at her, and some of the other girls in the class giggled. She gave a quiet thanks to the dwarf and then he shuffled out of the classroom, closing the door behind him. Mia didn't dare turned around to see the boy's reactions, and she looked pleadingly up at Professor Flitwick, who cleared his throat and then continued on as if nothing happened.

"Ronald Weasley," she growled under her breath, knowing that he was about to open his mouth. "Harry James Potter—if you two value your lives, you will both shut your mouths and _never_ speak of this again. Understand?"

There was silence at this and Mia, still blushing furiously, went back to taking her notes, with Hermione smiling next to her.

**Rate and Review Please!**


	13. Yellow Eyes

**Okay, I don't know what's wrong with me, I haven't updated this fast in who knows how long, but I'm not complaining. **** Well, here's chapter thirteen, and I hope you all like it, because I certainly did. I was so eager to get this one finished, I just had to write it! Now, the event in this chapter took place a little earlier than some might think, but I promise, you will all understand in the next chapter, and for those of you who don't I will put that in the note at the bottom of the page for chapter fourteen. **

**As always, questions, comments, and, in the case of this chapter, cries of outrage are all appreciated. Please review and enjoy!**

Chapter Thirteen: Yellow Eyes

MPOV

"Harry, have you gone mad?! You went _into _the diary?!"

"Mia, be quiet!" Harry hissed, glancing at the door to make sure no one had heard.

"What were you thinking?" Mia said in a whisper.

"I didn't know that I was going to get sucked into a diary! Riddle just told me he wanted to show me how the Chamber was opened last time."

"That's the problem right there—_Riddle told you. _Last time I checked, diaries were not supposed to write back to you!"

"Will you two please knock it off?" Ron said.

Mia, Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting in the, thankfully, empty boy's dormitory, where Harry has just got done telling them what had happened to him the previous night. Apparently, Harry had headed up to bed early, but was still curious about the mysterious diary. He decided to write inside it and, to their astonishment, the diary had written back to him. It seemed that Tom Riddle, as that was the owner of the diary, stored all of his thoughts and memories into the little black book, and Harry eagerly wrote to him, asking if he knew anything about the Chamber of Secrets, and who had opened it last time. Instead of telling Harry, Riddle had actually sucked Harry into the diary, taking him back to the night that the culprit had been caught after the death of a Muggleborn girl, by none other than Riddle himself. Mia didn't like the sound of this Riddle one bit—storing such power into a book didn't seem right, and she didn't know, why, but she just couldn't trust the word of someone who lived such a long time ago…especially since he showed Harry that the one who opened the chamber was Hagrid. Hagrid, their lovable giant friend who tended to various creatures, was accused as the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago. Mia was against the idea instantly—Hagrid may have had an unhealthy obsession for interesting and dangerous creatures, but he would never do something to hurt anyone.

"I don't like the sound of this Harry," Mia said. "I don't trust this Riddle at all, or his diary."

"But everything was so real, Mia," Harry said. "It was a scene from his memory—I don't think that's something easily tampered with."

"Riddle might have got the wrong person," said Hermione. "Maybe it was some other monster that was attacking people."

"How many monsters d'you think this place can hold?" Ron asked.

"We always knew Hagrid had been expelled," said Harry miserably. "And the attacks must've stopped after Hagrid was kicked out. Otherwise, Riddle wouldn't have got his award."

"Riddle does sound like Percy—who asked him to squeal on Hagrid, anyway?" said Ron.

"But the monster had killed someone, Ron," said Hermione.

"And Riddle was going to go back to some Muggle orphanage if they closed Hogwarts," said Harry. "I don't blame him for wanting to stay here…"

"You met Hagrid down Knockturn Alley, didn't you, Harry?"

"He was buying a Flesh-Eating Slug Repellent," said Harry quickly.

"Do you…do you think we should go and ask Hagrid about it all?" said Hermione in a hesitant voice.

"That'd be a cheerful visit," said Ron. "'Hello Hagrid, tell us, have you been setting anything mad and hairy loose in the castle lately?'"

"It can't be Hagrid though," Mia said. "I know it isn't. What in the world made Riddle think that it was him?"

"It could have possibly been the real heir," Harry suggested. "They might have tipped Riddle off that Hagrid had a monster, and then Riddle immediately thought it was the monster that was attacking everyone."

"I still don't like him," Mia stated. "But I know we can't just forget about this either. Listen, if there's another attack, then we'll ask Hagrid about it, all right? And Harry, please, for me, don't write in that diary anymore, okay?"

Harry looked a little reluctant, but he nodded, along with Ron and Hermione. Mia, wanting to brighten up the mood, smiled and turned to Ron.

"So, have you thought about what you want to do for your birthday?" she asked him.

"What?" said Ron.

"You know, your birthday? That day you were born, the day that involves presents, cake, and I'm pretty sure there's a song that goes along with it too," Mia teased.

"Blimey, I didn't realize it was so close," Ron said with a smile.

"Well, we should plan something, after all, a boy doesn't turn thirteen every day."

"I don't want anything big," Ron said quickly, his face going a little pink. "And you guys don't have to get me anything…"

"Take some advice from me mate," Harry cut in with a grin. "That's not going to work on her."

"Of course it won't," Mia said, waving a dismissive hand. "I'm sure Fred and George can knick a small cake from the kitchens if I asked them to, and forget about the 'no presents' thing, mine's already been ordered through the mail, so deal with it."

Indeed, Ron's birthday was an enjoyable event. Thankfully, it fell on a Saturday, so they didn't have to worry about classes that day or the next. As promised, Mia had asked the twins f they could please grab a chocolate cake from the kitchens, along with some drinks. Mia and Hermione hid the cake up in their dorm until late at night, when everyone had finally gone to bed. Working quickly, Mia put up a small banner that she had charmed to change colors for decorations, while Hermione snuck the cake downstairs, along with Ron gifts, and then Mia went up to go and get the boys. She covered Ron's eyes with her hands and carefully led him downstairs.

"Mia, what are you doing?" Ron asked, stumbling slightly.

"You'll see," she sang, leading him down the last couple of steps with Harry behind them. When she was ready, she uncovered his eyes and smiled.

"Surprise!"

"Wow," Ron said, smiling as he saw the banner, cake and even a few colorful streamers. "You did all this?"

"Along with Hermione," Mia replied. "Do you like it?"

"Definitely," Ron said.

"Come on, let's have some cake, then you can open your presents," said Harry.

Mia, Harry and Hermione sang Ron's birthday song before having him blow out the fake candles. They sent the next hour or so happily eating cake, chatting quietly so they wouldn't wake anyone up, and then it was time to open Ron's gifts. From Harry, Ron got a Chudley Cannons jersey with the name Weasley written on the back. He had gotten the idea from Mia at Christmas. And from both Mia and Hermione, Ron got a plate of warm, homemade brownies sent from Catherine, and a set of brand new robes. Mia knew that Ron didn't like how his family could never afford much, and it was even worse when Malfoy teased him about it. So Mia and Hermione thought that this would be a nice gift for him, and they were happy that he seemed to love them. Once they were all done eating the cake and joking around, it was almost one in the morning, and Hermione suggested they all go to bed.

"Thanks for everything guys," Ron said with a smile.

"You're welcome Ron," Mia said. With a final goodnight, the four friends separated to head up to their own dormitories.

…..

The next couple of weeks went by fairly quickly, and there was still no sign of Slytherin's monster. It had now been about three months since the last attack, and it seemed as if everyone was finally more calm about the whole situation. In their Herbology class, Professor Sprout informed everyone that the Mandrakes had thrown a rather lively party in greenhouse three the other night, and that meant that they would soon be moving into each other's pots soon, which would indicate that they have reached the mature age to be made into the potion. The Hufflepuffs were extremely happy about this, and Mia was glad that the ones who have been petrified would soon be all right again.

Along with the pro feeling of peace that was settling on the castle, it was also time for all the second years to pick their subjects for the following year. They would still have their regular classes, such as Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense, but there were also some extracurricular classes, like Ancient Runes, Divination, and Care of Magical Creatures. When the day came to make their choices, Mia found that she really wasn't sure which ones to choose. Hermione, in particular, seemed to take this matter very seriously and was thoroughly going through each subject vigorously.

"It could affect our whole future," she told them as they pored over lists of new subjects, marking them with checks.

"I just want to give up Potions," said Harry.

"We can't," said Ron gloomily. "We keep all our old subjects, or I'd've ditched Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"But that's very important!" said Hermione, shocked.

"Not the way Lockhart teaches it," said Ron. "I haven't learned anything from him except not to set pixies loose."

In the end, Harry and Ron both decided to settle on Care of Magical Creatures and Divination. After much thought and consideration, Mia decided to go along with Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes. She had considered taking Arithmancy as well, but she didn't want to overload herself with three extra subjects on top of all her other ones. Hermione, however, didn't seem to be on the same thinking range, as she had signed herself up for all of them.

"Hermione, you can't possibly sign up for every class!" Mia said. "That's way too much—how are you planning on eating or sleeping?"

"I'm sure it'll all work out if I talk to McGonagall about it," said Hermione. "And it was so hard just to choose a couple of them, I want to try them all, Ancient Ruins, Arithmancy, Muggle Studies—"

"Muggle Studies?" said Mia. "Why are you taking that class, you know everything about Muggles already."

"But it'll be fascinating learning it from a wizard's point of view," Hermione gushed, her eyes glowing with excitement. Mia just shook her head.

"You know, there are times when I do worry about your sanity, Mione," Mia sighed. "I'm just glad I'll have Care of Magical Creatures with you all."

"That should be fun," Hermione agreed, nodding. "We'll get to see all kinds of interesting creatures—maybe even Unicorns."

"We can hope," said Mia, smiling. "I wonder why Harry and Ron chose Divination."

"They probably thought it would be an easy grade," Hermione answered, rolling her eyes. "I'm honestly not too sure about it—sounds a lot like guess work to me."

"I can't wait for Ancient Runes," Mia said excitedly. "I've always been into figuring puzzles and codes. I love the idea of studying ancient runic scripts of magic—it'll be amazing!"

The following week, near the end of March, Gryffindor was starting to get ready for its match against Hufflepuff. Wood, as usual, was driving the team hard, keeping them out until dark every day of the week, and Mia was surprised that Harry was able to keep himself awake during class. Mia always sat in the stands to watch the team practice, and she loved supporting them in every way possible. One evening after one of these practices, Mia was waiting for Harry outside the locker room, and she smiled when he emerged, his Nimbus swung over his shoulder.

"You guys were great tonight," Mia said as they started walking back up to the castle. "You'll beat Hufflepuff for sure."

"Thanks Mia," Harry said, grinning. "Wood's determined to win the cup this year."

"Isn't he always?" Mia asked, shaking her head. "It will be said when he leaves after next year."

"I don't know what Fred and George are going to do with themselves when Wood's not around anymore," Harry chuckled. "I just hope the next Captain's ready to deal with them."

"Do you think you'll ever be Quidditch Captain one day?" Mia asked him.

"Me? Captain?" Harry said. "I don't know, this is only my second year…"

"And yet you fly as if you've been playing you whole life," Mia countered. "You're an amazing player Harry, and the more you play, the better you'll get. I wouldn't be surprised if you were made captain in a few years—then we would win every single game."

Harry smiled at her and then pulled Mia in for a hug. They continued walking up to the castle, and by the time they reached the common room, it was fairly busy, and Mia spotted Ron and Hermione sitting in the armchairs, waiting for them.

"How was practice?" Hermione asked.

"Great," said Harry. "We're going to win the match next month, I know it."

Before any of them could say anything, they heard the sound of hurried footsteps, and then Neville came into view, running through the door leading up to the boy's dormitory, looking frantic.

"Harry—I don't know who did it—I just found—you better come see—"

Neville turned and raced back up the stairs. Mia looked at Harry, and then they all stood up and followed Neville up to the dorm, where he was standing at the door, watching Harry fearfully. Without a word, he pushed the door open and stood aside. Mia's eyes widened at the sight inside.

Harry's things were _ everywhere._ All his clothes that were in his trunk were thrown about, his books lay scattered, and his cloak was lying ripped on the floor. His four poster bed looked as though a hurricane had swept past it, the sheets and pillows tossed carelessly to the floor, and the drawer from his bedside table had been pulled out, the contents piled out over the mattress. Harry's entire space was completely ransacked, and it looked as if someone was searching for something. After a moment of stunned silence, Harry stepped forward, carefully avoiding the more fragile objects, and then he bent down and started going through all the books on the floor.

"What happened here?" asked Mia.

"No idea," Harry replied, still searching.

"It had to be a Gryffindor," said Hermione. "No one else knows our password…unless it wasn't a student."

"Whoever it was, they had to have been looking for something," said Ron. "Is there anything missing?"

Harry started to pick up all his things and throw them into his trunk. Once he had everything put away, Harry turned to ace them.

"Riddle's diary's gone," he said, low enough for only Ron and Mia to hear.

"What?" said Ron, his eyes wide.

"It's gone," Harry repeated. "And I have no idea who could have taken it."

All four of them were baffled over who could have possibly stolen Riddle's diary, especially sense no one else in Gryffindor really knew that they had it to begin with. Harry was deeply troubled by this, and so was Mia. She didn't know who had the diary, so she had no idea if they would uncover its hidden powers. They spent some time discussing it, but none of them could even come up with a small clue as to who could have taken it.

A few days later, Mia, Hermione, and Jenna were all sitting in the library, hoping to get some extra homework and studying in before the Easter holidays, when they knew the teachers would overload them with never-ending essays, reading, and researching. Hermione was hidden behind two towering piles of books, Jenna was currently scribbling away on her fourth piece of parchment, and Mia was idly flicking through a thick, heavy set volume, titled, _Most Advanced Charms of the Modern Age. _

"Listen to this," Mia said. "'_Of the many more powerful charms in existence, the most pure and energy-consuming is the Patronus Charm. The Patronus Charm, along with being one of the most difficult spells to master, was created for the sole purpose of defending oneself against Dementors, dark, faceless beings who feed off the emotions and happy memories of anyone it comes across. The Patronus Charm is unique and has a varying form for every witch or wizard, more commonly seen as some type of Muggle animal that reflects the true soul of the witch or wizard who conjures it. It had been known for one to conjure a patronus in the form of a magical creature, although it is rare. In order to produce a full corporal patronus, one must focus on a very happy and very powerful memory, allow this memory to fill them up, and then speak the incantation, 'Expecto Patronum.' This should create a patronus that will drive off all Dementors, although if the memory is not powerful enough, it can also create a temporary shield between the wizard and Dementor, giving the wizard enough time to escape.'"_

"Wow, that sounds like a really powerful spell," said Jenna. "I wonder when we will be learning something like that."

"Probably not until our seventh year," said Hermione, leaning over to look at them from behind her books.

"These Dementors sound awful," Mia muttered. "Imagine having to come across one of them…"

"Be thankful you'll never have to," Jenna said, an unexpected dark tone to her voice. "Dementors are some of the most horrible dark creatures to ever exist. No matter where they go, they bring coldness with them, and everything around them freezes. The live off every good feeling, every happy memory, until a person is left with nothing but their darkest fears and worst memories."

"How do you know all this, Jenna?" Hermione asked.

"My great uncle is in Azkaban," Jenna said shortly. "Dementors are the Azkaban guards—they're the reason almost all the prisoners go mad in there."

There was an awkward silence after Jenna said this, and Mia quickly went to change the subject.

"How long have we been in here?"

"I think about three hours," Hermione replied.

"Three hours?" Jenna gasped.

"Harry and Ron must have think we died," Mia giggled. "I'm surprised they haven't sent out the Calvary yet."

"Maybe we should head back," Hermione said, checking her watch. "It's only about a half hour until curfew anyway."

While Hermione stood up and started placing her books back where she found them, Jenna began rolling up all her parchment and put the cork back on her ink bottle.

"Are you coming, Mia?" she asked, noticing that Mia hadn't moved.

"You guys go ahead," Mia said, still flicking through the pages of the book she was reading. "I still have a little more work I need to finish up."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Jenna said, and Mia could hear the poorly covered fear in her voice. "You shouldn't be in the corridors alone."

"Don't worry Jenna, I'll be okay," Mia assured her. "I promise, I will only spend about fifteen more minutes here, it'll give me plenty of time to go back to the common room. And there's still some Gryffindors here anyway—if it'll make you feel better, I'll wait until they leave and walk with them."

"Well, all right," Jenna said, giving an uncertain nod. Mia said goodbye to the girls as they left, and then went back to reading and writing. The sky outside the window, already pitch black, seemed to somehow grow even darker as the minutes ticked by, and Mia sighed after a while, taking a break from writing and stretching her fingers. She appreciated Hermione and Jenna's concern for her—even though there haven't been any attacks in months, people were still a little uneasy about being out so late at night. It was probably the first time in history that everyone was back inside their common rooms at curfew when they were supposed to be. Despite there being no attacks, Mia still couldn't help but wonder what had stopped the attacks. It's been months sense any Muggleborns had been found petrified, or that Harry heard ant strange voices no one else could hear—

_Voices no one else could hear…_

Mia instantly shot straight up in her seat, her eyes as wide as saucers and her heart skipping a beat. A crazy, sudden and almost impossible thought struck her, leaving her senseless. Could it be possible? When the attacks started back in October, Harry said he had been hearing voices…voices saying that something was out for a kill. Each time Harry heard this voice, an attack followed almost immediately afterword. Could Harry hear the monster? And if he can, since no one else can hear it…does that mean the monster is a type of _snake?_ A snake that can petrify people…

"Oh!" Mia exclaimed, jumping to her feet and nearly knocking her chair over. She quickly sped towards the far east corner of the library, frantically searching for the section the held books on monsters. Once she found it, she scanned the titles that lined the shelves, muttering under her breath, her hand hovering over the spines, ready to snatch the one she needed. As soon as she found it, she grabbed the book titled, _"Different Monsters of the Ancient World," _and hurriedly opened the cover, desperately looking for something that would prove her theory.

"Snakes…serpents…" she muttered, looking over the chapter contents and nearly ripping the pages because she was flipping them so fast. And then, at last, she finally found what she was looking for. Near the middle of the book, Mia found a picture of a very long, dangerous looking snake , baring its fangs and coiled up. Her hands shaking slightly, Mia started to read.

_"Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size__and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it."_

For a moment, Mia couldn't move, much less breathe. A bunch of emotions were rushing through her, excitement and relief being the more prominent ones. She couldn't believe it…this was the answer! The monster in the Chamber of Secrets is a Basilisk! That's why Harry is the only one who can hear it speak—it's a snake! Mia remembered the night they were searching the corridor outside Moaning Myrtle's bathroom—there were a bunch of spiders fighting their way out of the castle. And the crow of a rooster…Hagrid's roosters were killed! The heir must have killed them before releasing the Basilisk. _The Basilisk has a murderous stare. _Mia remembered the talk she had with Hermione when she was in the hospital wing. Everyone who has come into contact with the Basilisk was only petrified, not killed…because they didn't look at it directly in the eye. Colin had his camera, Justin must have seen it through Sir Nick, and Mrs. Norris—

"The water," Mia gasped. "She only saw the reflection."

Mia couldn't believe it—she figured it out! She was stunned for a moment and couldn't move. This was the answer to everything—she had to tell Harry, Ron and Hermione! Mia turned and swiftly made her way back to the table she was sitting at, and then she searched frantically through her bag, looking for parchment and quill. As soon as she had it, she spread the parchment across the surface of the table and started copying the paragraph that she had found about the Basilisk. When she was done, she stared at it for a moment, then she folded it up, stuffed all her things back into her bag, and then took off from the library, with Madame Pince yelling after her about putting books back where she found them. Mia ran through the corridors, only vaguely aware that they were completely empty. She kept running, eager to tell her friends what she had discovered, when all of a sudden, she heard a noise coming from around the corner and a shadow climbing up against the walls. Mia stopped dead, her smile instantly falling from her face. It was only then that she realized she was walking through the corridors, alone, at night, and it was after curfew. Moving silently, Mia hid herself behind a column carrying a dimly lit torch, concealing herself in the shadows, her heart beating wildly in her chest. A great fear settled over her, and she thought of the worst. Was it the Basilisk? Has it come back? How was she going to get away? However, Mia didn't need to worry, because it wasn't a Basilisk that came walking around the corner.

It was Ginny Weasley. Mia let out a soft sigh of relief and just as she was about to call out to her, but then she stopped, her eyebrows furrowing together. What in the world was Ginny doing out wandering the castle so late at night? That wasn't like her at all, and it could be dangerous. Mia had half a mind to call out to her, but she didn't. Ginny was glancing around the corridors, as if checking to make sure the coast was clear, and Mia saw that she was clutching something tightly to her side. Her face was once again pale, her expression blank. Something wasn't right here. Mia watched as Ginny set off down the corridor, her footsteps almost silent as she headed towards the staircase. Biting her lip, Mia crept out of her hiding place and started to follow Ginny, making no sound so she wouldn't be discovered. She followed Ginny down the staircase, past the snoozing portraits, and onto the second floor, making sure that she kept to the shadows. Ginny kept on walking until she reached Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. She once again looked around to make sure she was alone, and then slipped inside, leaving the door cracked open behind her. Mia's suspicion turned into confusion. What was Ginny doing in Myrtle's bathroom? Walking slowly, Mia crept over to the door and pushed it all the way open, peering inside.

It was silent, so Myrtle either wasn't there at the moment, or was just ignoring whoever was in there. Ginny was standing by the sink that was in front of the very last stall, looking into the mirror. Deciding it was probably best to make her presence known, Mia walked over to her.

"Ginny?" she said. "What are you doing in here?"

Ginny didn't jump or flinch, or give any indication that Mia had startled her. She slowly turned on the spot until she was facing her, and when she did, her face broke into a small smile. But it wasn't the smile Ginny usually wore, so full of shyness and care—no, this smile was almost cold, yet deathly sweet, as if it didn't belong to her.

"Hello Amelia Thatcher," Ginny said softly. "How wonderful to finally see you."

Mia's confusion grew even more. Why was Ginny acting so strangely?

"Ginny are you all right?" Mia asked.

"I'm perfectly fine," Ginny replied. "Much better now that you're here."

"What are you doing here of all places? And at this time of night? It's dangerous, the monster could still be lurking around."

"I have no worries about the monster," Ginny said, rather calmly. "It's you who should be worried."

"Ginny please, let me take you back to the common room," Mia said. "The Basilisk could be anywhere—"

Ginny's smile faltered some.

"Basilisk?" she said.

"Yes, the monster is a Basilisk," Mia explained, showing her the folded up note in her hand. "It's been petrifying all the Muggleborns, and it's a snake, so the heir is a Parselmouth, like Harry. I'm not sure how it's been getting around, but we can figure that out later. We have to go and tell the others so we can tell Professor Dumbledore! Please Ginny, we have to go."

"We're not going anywhere," Ginny stated, her voice still calm.

"What are you talking about Ginny? There's no time—"

Mia stopped herself mid-sentence, because she had just noticed what exactly it was that Ginny was holding. It was a little black book, with the letters T. M. Riddle visible from the cover.

"Ginny, what are you doing with that?" Mia asked, pointing to the diary. "Where did you get it?"

Ginny's smile returned to her face, and this time, it was amused.

"Come on now, Amelia," she said. "Little Ginny's told me how smart you are—surely you can figure it out? This diary belongs to _me._"

Mia continued to stare at Ginny, more confused than she ever was before. Since when did she start calling her Amelia? What did Ginny mean that it was her diary? That diary belongs to…to Riddle…

A new feeling of dread had settled in the pit of Mia's stomach. For the first time, she took a good look at Ginny. Her warm brown eyes, once so full of life, were dull, almost lifeless, and, to Mia's horror, they seemed to flash a cruel shade of red. Her heart pounding, Mia took a step back.

"Who are you?" she whispered. "What have you done with Ginny?"

"Ginny has been my faithful little puppet for some time now," the little girl replied. "You see, when she acquired my diary, she poured her heart and soul into it…into me. She is mine, and without her, I could never have finished Salazar Slytherin's noble work."

"You?" Mia gasped. "You made Ginny open the chamber?"

"It wasn't easy. She put up a fight, but I'm in full control now."

"You won't get away with this," Mia said. "I'll tell everyone what you've done, and I'll tell everyone there's a Basilisk."

"That's where you're wrong, dear Amelia," Ginny said softly. "I'll admit I wondered when I would get you alone, but you just made it all the more easy."

"Me?" said Mia, her voice shaking. "Why me?"

"Because you're the one he will miss the most," Ginny replied, her smile turning into an evil grin. Before Mia could figure out what she meant, Ginny turned and walked in front of the sink, staring directly at it. To Mia's increasing fear Ginny opened her mouth and a low hissing noise came out of it. For a couple seconds, nothing happened, but then the sink began to shift, detaching itself from the wall, and Mia watched, frozen to the spot, as the sink slowly started descending into the ground, leaving a large, black hole in the wall behind it, just big enough for a fully grown man to slide into. Her heart was beating so fast that she was sure it was going to burst out of her chest, and she was positive that she would start to hyperventilate. No it can't be…after all the times they've been in here…

Mia was snapped out of her thoughts as she heard a noise that made her body go rigid in terror—a loud hissing sound that was coming from inside the chute, along with something that sounded like rustling against smooth stone.

_The Basilisk…_

The feeling returning to her legs, Mia bolted out of the bathroom, thrusting the door open and running down the corridors, hearing Ginny shout something in Parseltongue behind her. Her fear made her go faster down the halls, her footsteps echoing against the walls. The corridors were darker than they had been earlier, and Mia was panting heavily as she ran.

_Dumbledore's office! I have to go to Dumbledore's office!_

Mia raced up the stairs and practically flew down many more corridors, never daring to slow down. It wasn't until she reached was the floor below the one that had the entrance to Dumbledore's office that Mia took a risk and looked over her shoulder, making sure that Ginny nor the Basilisk was behind her. However, her distraction made her loose her focus and her footing, and so she tripped over her own feet, falling straight to the ground and letting out a cry of pain as she twisted her ankle. Her bag fell off her shoulder and her contents went flying everywhere. Including the note with all the information she found on the Basilisk. Mia sat there for a minute, a coupe tears streaming down her face, and she stared around wildly, scared of seeing Ginny, or whoever it was that was possessing her. Mia gathered her strength to crawl over to the wall, where she used the window ledge to hoist herself up onto her good foot. She gritted her teeth in pain as she leaned against the wall. She can't stop now, she has to keep going. She needs to get help.

Just then, Mia heard it—the slithering of a serpent on the floor, and the hissing sound that sent shivers through her body. The hissing was coming towards her and she was too scared to move an inch. Soon enough, the hissing came to a stop behind her, and Mia whimpered softly. Moving ever so slowly, Mia lifted her head and stared into the reflection she saw in the window. The last thing she saw was a glance of those great big yellow eyes of the giant snake and she never even had time to scream before the world went black and silent.

**Rate and Review Please!**


	14. It's Not Over Yet

**Okay guys, I finally have chapter fourteen up and ready to go! I know things went a little fast in this chapter and I apologize for that. Since Mia has been petrified, I'm doing the rest of the story in Harry's POV, and I'm trying my best not to copy it all from right out of the book, so please bear with me. I do hope you all like this chapter, and pretty please review! I was so happy with all the ones I got for the last chapter, I really appreciate it, thank you all so much! Hopefully this story will be done within the next couple of week, but I should have it done before the month is up at the latest. So sit back and have a great time reading. Any comments or questions, feel free to ask! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter are not mine. **

Chapter Fourteen: It's Not Over Yet

HPOV

"Hey Ron, where's Hermione and Mia?" Harry asked.

"Not sure," Ron answered, shrugging his shoulders. "When I went into the common room this morning while you were getting dressed, I ran into Parvati and Lavender. They said Mia must have woken up early, because she wasn't in her bed when they got up. They think Hermione went to go look for her in the Great Hall."

Harry nodded. That made sense, knowing Mia and Hermione would probably be there. He and Ron were making their way down the staircase, on their way to breakfast in the Great Hall. Their first class started in a little less than an hour, so they had plenty of time to eat. Harry himself was more tired than usual because he had a very hard time sleeping. He kept waking up to nightmares, where he kept hearing that mysterious voice, whispering to him, giving him the feeling, that something bad was going to happen. He was always surrounded by darkness in these dreams, his body feeling numb, and every time he hears the voice, he wants to jump up and stop it, but he can't move, and he's never felt more helpless. Every time he woke up, he would berate himself, trying to shake it off, but it wasn't as easy as he thought it would be. Maybe he would talk about it with Ron and the girls once they all met up in the Great Hall. The two boys continued on walking down the staircase until they reached the entrance hall. However, when they went into the Great Hall, they looked around and saw that neither Hermione nor Mia was sitting at the Gryffindor table. Something didn't seem right, and against his will, a feeling of unease was starting to form in Harry's stomach. Where are they? He and Ron walked over to the table where they saw Percy eating his porridge.

"Hey Percy, have you seen Hermione or Mia?" Harry asked him.

"Good morning Harry," Percy greeted. "I'm sorry, I haven't seen Mia around yet. Hermione was here a little while ago though, when she saw that Mia wasn't here, she ate and then went off to find her before class. I think she said she was checking the library. Why don't you two sit down and eat?"

Before Harry or Ron could say anything, they were interrupted by the presence of Professor McGonagall, who was walking briskly towards them. Harry could tell something was wrong—McGonagall was staring at them with an expression on her face close to pitying and sorrow, which was highly unusual. When she spoke, she sounded as she were trying to keep the faint expressions on her face out of her voice.

"Potter, I need you to come with me," she said. "You too, Mr. Weasley."

Harry and Ron looked at each other, wondering what on earth this was about. They didn't question it as Professor McGonagall started leading them back out of the Great Hall. Harry trailed behind her, his mind racing. Did something happen? Was he being blamed for something else? He wanted to ask Professor McGonagall, but something told him he should just be quiet and follow her to wherever she was taking them. There was silence as they continued to walk, and with every step they took, Harry's nerves grew even more. They climbed the first few floors and were walking down the corridor when they turned the corner and saw Hermione ahead of them.

"Harry! Ron!" Hermione called running up to them. "Do you know where Mia is? I haven't seen her since last night, I thought she was in the library, but I couldn't find her—"

"Miss Granger," Professor McGonagall interrupted. "Perhaps you should come along too."

Hermione stopped her small rant and stared at them all, looking anxious.

"Is something wrong, Professor?" she asked hesitantly.

"Come along you three," Professor McGonagall said. "There's something you have to see."

And so Professor McGonagall took Harry, Ron and Hermione through the corridors and up more flights of stairs until they finally reached the hospital wing. A sharp knot was twisting painfully in Harry's heart, and a sense of dread filled him. Was there another attack? McGonagall led them inside, and Harry saw Madame Pomfrey leaning over one of the beds. As they entered, she stood up and moved aside, revealing the patient on the bed. At that moment, Harry felt his heart stop beating, the air seemed to deflate from his lungs, and his knees started to buckle, threatening to give out. His fear quickly turned into shock and pain, and he was feeling extremely sick, as if he had been punched in the gut by a wrecking ball. Everything around him seemed to end in an atomic boom as he stared into the face of the girl on the bed.

_"Mia!"_ Hermione wailed.

Mia was lying on the bed, her entire body pale and stiff, like she was carved out of stone. From the way she was positioned, it looked as if she were leaning up against something, her blue eyes wide, and her face filled with absolute horror. Hermione ran over to the bed and sank down next to her, tears falling down her cheeks. Ron was rooted to the spot, his posture stiff, his face a mixture of grief and anger. His knees somehow still keeping him up, Harry slowly walked forward, his entire being numb and heavy, as if he were made out of lead. He stood right next to the bed, staring down into Mia's terrified face. He couldn't find the will to speak, his throat painfully tight, so he reached down to take her hand into his. He had to stop himself from flinching from the coldness of her skin.

"Miss Thatcher was found last night in the middle of the fifth floor corridor by one of the ghosts," Professor McGonagall said quietly. "All her things were scattered across the floor, and we believed she hurt her ankle. Do any of you know why she was out so late?"

"She said s-she had some homework t-to finish," Hermione cried. "She was going to be back b-before curfew. I should have stayed w-with her…"

"Now, Miss Granger, no one is to blame for this," Professor McGonagall said. "I am very sorry. Being her friends, I wanted you three to be the first to find out. I promise, we will do all that we can to get her back to normal. I should take you all to your first class—"

"No," said Harry, his voice terribly strained, eyes never leaving Mia's face. "I can't leave her."

"Potter—"

"Please Professor," Harry said. "I can't leave her."

Professor McGonagall stared at Harry for a moment, but not with her usual intense, strict eyes. They seemed a great deal softer, and after about a minute, she sighed.

"Very well, I will give you three permission to have most of the morning off, but only as long as you do not leave the hospital wing. With what has happened, I do not want any more risk to any more students."

After that, Professor McGonagall turned around and then left the ward, and Harry thought he heard her sniff softly. Madame Pomfrey also left the room, giving them all some privacy. Hermione continued to cry and Harry refused to let go of Mia's hand. He sat down next to her on the mattress, still staring into her face. For the longest time, none of them said anything, trying to take in what had just happened. Many emotion were still bubbling inside Harry and he wanted nothing more than for them to burst out. He wanted to sit in a corner and cry, yet he also wanted to punch the lights out of something in frustration. Mia had been attacked. His best and most cherished friend had been _attacked. _How could this have happened? It had been safe for a while, but they always made sure to go to places together, or at least with someone they knew. Mia's expression haunted him—he couldn't imagine the fear she must have felt. McGonagall said that her things were scattered and that she hurt her ankle. Was she running? Was the monster chasing her? The thought caused an unpleasant churn in Harry's stomach. Why hadn't he been there with her? He had told Mr. Thatcher a long time ago he wouldn't let anything happen to her…

_Oh no. _Mr. and Mrs. Thatcher. Harry could even think about what they would go through once they find out what had happened to their daughter. And he couldn't even protect her from it.

"Harry," Hermione whispered, moving her tear stained face to look at him. "I'm so s-sorry. She said she was g-going to follow a Gryffindor b-back to the common room. I-I didn't know…

"It's okay Hermione," Harry said, his voice still a little hoarse. "It's not your fault."

"And it's not yours either, mate," Ron said, speaking for the first time since they arrived. He came over to stand next to Harry, a fierce look on his face. "I know what you're thinking—we couldn't have known what would happen, and we don't know what Mia was doing last night. I feel horrible too, but it's no one's fault."

Harry didn't answer him, and Hermione started wiping her eyes.

"What was she doing out so late?" she said.

"Come on Hermione, you know how you two get when you're in the library," Ron said in a halfhearted attempt to lighten the mood. "If you didn't need to eat or actually go to class you'd probably live there."

Hermione sniffed a little, but couldn't find it in her to smile. The three of them became silent again, all of them gazing at Mia's still form. Harry had always felt bad when someone had been found petrified, but this was worse than anything he could have ever imagined. This was personal.

….

The news that Mia Thatcher had been petrified didn't take very long to spread through the school, as there were really no secret kept within Hogwarts. Once it did, the fear and hysteria that had taken so long to settle down quickly flared up again, and most everyone was in panic. Mia's attack left most people in complete shock, especially those closest to her. Fred and George Weasley were more than a little run down at the news, and their jokes weren't nearly as fun as they were before, if they even bothered to make any. Ginny was also very affected, as she had obviously been starting to grow very fond of Mia. After hearing of what had happened, Ginny started to cry a little and shut herself up in her dormitory. The afternoon after the attack, Harry knew Hermione had gone to find Jenna in order to tell her herself, and from what he learned, Jenna had cried heavily on Hermione's shoulder and, amazingly, skipped her next class in order to go and visit her.

Harry himself wasn't faring very well. Every single day, whether it was after class or after Quidditch practice, he was at the hospital wing, sitting next to Mia's bed and holding her hand. Sometimes he would talk to her even though he knew she couldn't hear him, and Ron and Hermione were nearly always there with him. When they were in the common room, they were mostly quiet, and everyone kept shooting them pitying looks. Even in classes, it didn't feel right without having Mia there with them. Her empty seat next to them unsettled them, and Harry hated how people were always whispering about it when he walked past. Harry hadn't written to Mia's parents since the attack, not knowing what to say to them. He assumed they had been informed, and he couldn't imagine how they must have been feeling. The only person who seemed to be unaffected by this was Malfoy. He had a constant and satisfied look on his face when he was walking through the halls, and he grinned evilly whenever he saw Harry, Ron and Hermione. More than once, Harry had to find himself withholding the urge to punch him whenever he heard Malfoy making a snide remark about Mia's attack. However, the taunts seemed to stop for a while after Malfoy had come to breakfast one morning with green pimples and orange streaks in his hair that just didn't seem to come off, even when he went to Madame Pomfrey for help. Everyone had laughed themselves silly at him, including Harry, who distinctly remembered the Weasley twins disappearing for a couple hours the previous night, saying they had a little prat problem that needed fixing.

All in all, things were looking a little gloomy in the early days of spring at Hogwarts. Harry found Quidditch to be a good distraction from what had happened, and fixed his entire focus on getting ready for the match against Hufflepuff that was in just a couple weeks. Along with Quidditch, the Easter holidays came and went, with the teachers piling on loads of homework to help them prepare for their finals in June. Harry could tell Hermione was missing her study partner, and all three of them were more quiet than usual when it came to doing their homework. Also, Harry, Ron and Hermione had been trying to find some spare time to go and see Hagrid, as they had all agreed to talk to him should there be another attack, but due to recent events, the school enforced stricter rules and barely let anyone roam the grounds unless it was absolutely necessary, and lately Hagrid hasn't been seen very much at dinner. Harry suspected that Mia's attack had left him upset and troubled and he couldn't blame him for feeling that way—it was like Hagrid's worst memory was being relived again.

Harry woke up on the Wednesday before the Quididtch match against Hufflepuff way to early. The sun had barely just risen and he knew it would be impossible to go to sleep, not with all the racket the morning birds were making. He sighed heavily and made to sit up, only to feel a familiar ball of fluff on his stomach. He looked down to see Sapphire flicking her tail back and forth, gazing up at him with her blue eyes.

"Hey Sapphire," Harry murmured softly. The cat purred as he pet her, although she kept her head on her paws, staring at him with an almost sad look. Ever since Mia had been petrified, Sapphire had been sleeping in the boy's dorm almost every night with Harry in his bed. Harry knew how much she was missing her mistress.

"I know girl," he said. "I miss her too."

Moving carefully, Harry gently placed Sapphire down on the mattress and got up out of bed, ready to start getting dressed for the day. Once he showered and put his school uniform on, he walked over to grab his bag from the foot of his bed and smiled at Sapphire, who never took her eyes off him. She stood up from the bed and stretched before leaping onto the floor and rubbing herself up against Harry's leg, meowing. When he had everything he needed, Harry walked over to the door with Sapphire on his heels and together they walked down the spiral staircase into the common room. Deciding he would wait for his friends to get up, Harry took a seat on the couch by the fireplace and sighed, taking out his old _Quidditch Through the Ages_ book to pass the time. However, he didn't get very far before he heard footsteps and he turned around to see Hermione coming down through the door leading to the girl's dormitory, dress in her uniform as well.

"Harry?" she said when she saw him. "What are you doing up already?"

"I couldn't sleep," he replied, closing his book. "What are you doing up?"

"Well," Hermione said slowly. "I was actually thinking about going to where Mia was attacked."

"What? Why?" said Harry.

"Just to see if there are any clues, you know, like when we found those scorch marks and spiders after Halloween?" said Hermione. "I know it's a longshot, but right now, I'd go for anything that could tell us what the monster could be, or even why Mia was out so late."

Harry thought it over for a moment. He had been thinking out what could have happened that night, and surely it wouldn't hurt to look around? He owed it to Mia to find out what happened to her, and right now that option was better than sitting around and doing nothing. Harry nodded at Hermione, who then smiled and shamelessly went upstairs to the boy's dorm to wake up Ron from his precious slumber.

About twenty minutes later, Harry, Hermione, and a very tired but determined Ron made their way down to the fifth floor corridor, hoping they could find something that could help them. Once they reached the scene of the incident, they started searching. Harry got on his hands and knee and looked around on the floor, while Ron and Hermione checked over by the windows.

"Look at this," Hermione said. "There's more spiders climbing out of the hole in the glass…"

Ron jumped backward at this, moving as far away from the windows as possible. Harry got up and walked over to see that Hermione was right—just like on Halloween, there was a cluster of spiders on the windowsill, all fighting their way to get out of the castle. But what really caught Harry attention was what they were crawling over.

"What's that?" he said, pointing. "Is that a piece of parchment?"

"I think so," Hermione answered, edging closer to take a look. Her face scrunching up a little, Hermione hesitated, and then she carefully swiped the spiders off of the piece of parchment and took it off the windowsill, holding it in front of them. Harry moved next to her in order to see. The parchment was pretty small, and it looked like it had been part of a sheet that had been torn up. But it was still large enough to make out a single word on the piece: _Serpents. _

"Serpents," Harry muttered. "What is this? It's in Mia's handwriting…"

"I'm not sure," Hermione said, handing the piece of parchment over to Ron, who had finally found the courage to step forward. He looked at it for a moment, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"Do you think this might have fallen out of her bag with the rest of her things?" he asked them.

"It's possible," Harry said. "By why would it be over by the window instead of on the floor? And why would it be torn up?"

Unfortunately, none of them had any reasonable explanations for these questions. Figuring they would continue searching later, Harry stuffed the parchment in his pocket and then he, Ron and Hermione started making their way down to breakfast in the Great Hall. Harry was going over what they had just found, trying to figure out what it meant. Serpents…why was Mia looking up snakes? Did she just come across it in a book or was she looking for something specific? Many more thoughts were swirling inside Harry's head as he walked, and he wasn't pulled back to reality until he heard Ron shout next to him.

"Yuck! What is all this?"

They had reached the second floor corridor, only to find that it was nearly entirely flooded with disgusting looking water, and it all seemed to be coming from Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. They could hear her sobbing loudly from inside, and before they could say anything, Peeves came zooming through the door, cackling madly, shouting "Pimply Myrtle, Pimply Myrtle!" as he flew to the upper floors of the castle.

"Oh, he's horrible," Hermione said. "Do you think she's okay?"

"Who cares?" said Ron, only to receive a slap to the arm. Myrtle's cries were turning into loud wails by this point, and Hermione sighed.

"I'm going to go see if she's all right," she said to them. "I'll meet you guys downstairs."

Harry and Ron nodded, and then they continued on walking down the corridor while Hermione went to go and see Myrtle.

"I don't even know why she bothers," Ron said when they reached the entrance hall.

"You can't even get two words in before Myrtle throws a fit and floods the place.

The Great Hall was fairly full by the time they arrived, and the boys sat down near the middle of the table, each one grabbing an apple and starting to fill their plates with food. Just as they had started eating, harry could sense that someone was behind him. He turned to see that Hannah Abbott was there, shifting her feet awkwardly.

"Hey Harry," she said.

"Hey Hannah," he said. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, um I just," she stammered before sighing. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry Harry. I'm sorry I was stupid enough to listen to Ernie and what he said about you. I don't know Mia very well, but I do know that you would never hurt her. I'm sorry it took me so long to say it."

"It's okay Hannah," Harry assured her. "How is Jenna doing?"

"She's okay," Hannah answered. "She's still really sad, Mia's one of her best friends. But the Mandrake draft will be ready soon, so she's a little happier about that. Well, I have to go, but I'll tell Jenna you said hello."

"Bye," said Harry as Hannah turned and walked back to her table.

"You're way too forgiving sometimes mate," Ron stated as he cut into his sausage. Harry shrugged and kept on eating. It was only a few minutes later that Hermione had come into the hall, practically sprinting to them, an anxious look on her face.

"What's up, Hermione? Did Myrtle go nutters and kick you out?" asked Ron, taking a swig from his Pumpkin Juice.

"No she didn't," Hermione said quickly and in a low voice so no one else would hear. "She told me something important—Mia was in Myrtle's bathroom with the Heir of Slytherin the night she was attacked!"

Ron's Pumpkin Juice instantly went flying out of his mouth, spraying all over his eggs and toast, and he started coughing uncontrollably.

"_What?" _Harry whispered, his mouth dropping open.

"Mia was in the bathroom that night," Hermione repeated. "I tried to calm Myrtle down, but she was crying too much, and I figured I would just leave her be, but then she said, 'And tell your other friend to stay out of my bathroom so late at night!' I was confused by what she meant, and then she told me that Mia was in the bathroom the night she was attacked."

"What else did she say?" said Harry urgently.

"Myrtle was down in the pipes, crying like usual, and then she heard voices. She didn't pay too much attention, but then she said they were getting louder, and she was annoyed, so she started going up the pipes to tell them to go away. She caught bits and pieces of their conversation, she said she heard Mia say things like 'Who are you?' and 'You won't get away with this.' And she heard someone else talking too, and she said that this other person was talking about finishing Salazar Slytherin's noble work, and that they were happy because they got Mia alone. The next thing Myrtle knew, Mia was running and the other person said something in a strange language she couldn't understand."

Hermione's story was met with a shocked silence and Harry's hands were balled up into fists on the table. Mia was alone with the heir, and they set the monster on her. He could feel anger boil inside him, knowing now that Mia had been a marked target and she was attacked because she knew too much.

"Bloody hell," Ron whispered, his face pale. "What made Mia go into Myrtle's bathroom at all?"

"That's the one thing we don't know," Hermione said, sounding frustrated. "I tried asking Myrtle a few more questions, but she was getting annoyed with me and then screamed at me to leave."

The three of them feel silent, none of them having much of an appetite anymore, and Harry knew they were all thinking the same thing—what was Mia doing in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom?

….

The day of the Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff match had finally arrived. Harry woke up on the crisp Saturday morning feeling excited and ready to help his team win the cup. He grabbed his scarlet Quidditch robes out from his trunk, and laid it out on his bed so he could easily slip it on after he was done eating. He grabbed his Nimbus 2000, set it down next to his uniform, and then he and Ron walked down to the common room, where Hermione was waiting for them.

"Today's going to be a great game," Ron said with a grin. "Just make sure you win Harry—I'd hate to see what Mia would do to you if she woke up and heard you lost."

Harry, Ron and Hermione all walked down to the Great Hall, where the rest of the Gryffindor team was sitting and eating their own breakfast.

"Perfect Quidditch conditions!" said Wood enthusiastically, loading the team's plates with scrambled eggs. "We're going to win, I know it!"

Harry had to smile at Wood's excitement. This would be Gryffindor's chance to win the House Quidditch Cup for the first time in years, and he could tell everyone was getting pretty excited about it. Wood urged his team to eat, and kept refilling their plates and goblets to the fullest, not taking no for an answer when they tried to protest. As soon as Harry had eaten his full, he got up from the table with Ron and Hermione and started walking out of the hall so he could go up to Gryffindor tower and change for the game. However, as they were climbing the stairs to the first floor, he heard something that made his blood run cold.

_"Kill this time…let me rip…tear…" _

"The voice!" Harry shouted, causing Ron and Hermione to jump away from him in alarm. "I just heard it again—didn't you?"

Ron shook his head, wide-eyed, but Hermione, however, clapped a hand to her forehead, her eyes wide with shock and realization.

"Harry—I think I've just understood something! I've got to go to the library!"

Without another word, Hermione raced past them and sprinted up the stairs, her bushy brown hair flying behind her.

"What does she understand?" said Harry distractedly, still looking around, trying to tell where the voice had come from.

"Loads more than I do," said Ron, shaking his head. "It's weird how you are the only one that can hear this voice though. Come on, you should probably get ready for the game—Hermione will tell us what she's figured out when we see her."

Harry and Ron both made their way back up to the tower, and once Harry had his broom and his uniform, they both hurried back downstairs and joined the large crowd that was making their way to the Quidditch Pitch, all chattering excitedly about the game. Harry was still worried about the bodiless voice that he had heard, and he prayed that something bad wouldn't happen. He and Ron made their way to the locker rooms, where Ron bid Harry goodbye, saying he would look for Hermione in the stadium. Wood gave them his normal pep talk, getting the team fired up and ready to start the game. When it was time, they all marched out onto the field, receiving thunderous applause from the school. The Hufflepuff team was walking out onto the field as well, dressed in their canary yellow robes. Wood took off for a warm-up flight around the goal posts while Madam Hooch released the balls. Just as things were about to kick off, Harry suddenly saw Professor McGonagall come half marching, half running across the pitch, carrying an enormous purple megaphone. Harry's heart dropped like a stone.

"This match has been cancelled," Professor McGonagall called through the megaphone, addressing the packed stadium. There were boos and shouts coming from all corners and Wood, looking devastated, landed and ran toward Professor McGonagall without getting off his broomstick.

"But, Professor!" he shouted. "We've got to play—the cup—Gryffindor—"

"All students are to make their way back to the House common rooms, where their Heads of Houses will give them further information," McGonagall continued, ignoring Wood. "As quickly as you can, please!"

There was more booing as everyone reluctantly started filing out of the stadium. Harry was about to walk off the field when Professor McGonagall came over to him.

"Potter, I think you'd better come with me…"

Harry's heart dropped even more and it became numb, as did the rest of his body. The last time McGonagall had come to him like this, it was to tell him one of his best friends had been attacked. He tried to remain calm, telling himself that Maybe Hermione had told her about the voice he could hear. Harry did as he was told, and he saw Ron detach himself from the complaining crowd. He came running up to them as they set off toward the castle, and to Harry's surprise and slight horror, Professor McGonagall didn't object.

"Yes, perhaps you'd better come, too, Weasley," she sighed, looking very upset and regretful. "I am so sorry boys…"

Harry was really starting to panic, and the sense of déjà vu was overwhelming. He could tell Ron was feeling it too, for he had gone at least three shades of white, and Harry saw that his hands were shaking a little as they walked. Harry and Ron followed Professor McGonagall back up the grassy slopes and into the school. She took them up the marble staircase, and Harry's feeling of dread was growing stronger and stronger with each step he took, his heart beating frantically in his chest.

"This will be a bit of a shock," said Professor McGonagall in a gentle voice as they approached the hospital wing. "There has been another attack…another _double_ attack."

Harry's insides did a horrible somersault. Professor McGonagall pushed the door open and he and Ron entered, both fearful of what they would see. Inside, Madam Pomfrey was bending over a fifth-year girl with long, curly hair, whose arm was in the air, her hand curled as if she were grasping something. Harry recognized her as the Ravenclaw they'd accidentally asked for directions to the Slytherin common room. And on the bed next to her, staring into nothingness, was—

_"Hermione!"_ Ron groaned.

Hermione was in a position much like Mia's, only her body was laying straight, her eyes open and glassy, and her skin pale, a look of complete shock on her face. Harry felt his knees buckle and he couldn't find his voice. _No, not again…_

"They were found near the library," said Professor McGonagall. "I don't suppose either of you can explain this? It was on the floor next to them."

She was holding up a small, silver, circular mirror. Harry and Ron silently shook their heads, never taking their eyes off of Hermione's face.

"I'm very sorry this has happened," Professor McGonagall said, staring at the two of them softly as she placed the mirror back on the bedside table. "I will escort you two back to your common room—I need to address the rest of the house."

….

"All students will return to their House common rooms by six o'clock in the evening. No student is to leave the dormitories after that time. You will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No student is to use the bathroom unaccompanied by a teacher. All further Quidditch training and matches are to be postponed. There will be no more evening activities."

The Gryffindors packed inside the common room listened to Professor McGonagall in silence as she read of the new rules and restriction that the school would be placing into effect now that five Hogwarts students had been attacked.

"I need hardly add that I have rarely been so distressed," Professor McGonagall said in a choked up voice as she rolled up the parchment from which she had been reading from. "It is likely that the school will be closed unless the culprit behind these attacks is caught. I would urge anyone who thinks they might know anything about them to come forward."

With that being said, Professor McGonagall left the common room and as soon as the portrait closed behind her, the Gryffindors began talking immediately.

"That's three Gryffindors down, not counting a Gryffindor ghost, one Ravenclaw, and one Hufflepuff, " said the Weasley twins' friend Lee Jordan, counting on his fingers. "Haven't any of the teachers noticed that the Slytherins are all safe? Isn't it obvious all this stuff's coming from Slytherin? The Heir of Slytherin, the monster of Slytherin—why don't they just chuck all the Slytherins out?"

Some of the other Gryffindors agreed while others remained silent, talking quietly amoung their friends. The first years were Percy Weasley was sitting in a chair behind Lee, but for once he didn't seem keen to make his views heard. He was looking pale and stunned.

"Percy's in shock," George told Harry quietly. "That Ravenclaw girl—Penelope Clearwater—she's a prefect. I don't think he thought the monster would dare attack a prefect."

But Harry was only half-listening. He didn't seem to be able to get rid of the picture of Hermione and Mia, both lying on hospital beds as though they were carved out of stone. That's two of his best friend that have been attacked by the monster, and there was nothing he could do about it. He still had no idea what it was, and if the culprit wasn't caught soon, the school would end up closing, and he would have to go back to the Dursleys, this time for good. Tom Riddle had turned Hagrid in because he was faced with the prospect of a Muggle orphanage if the school closed—Harry now knew exactly how he had felt.

"What're we going to do?" said Ron quietly in Harry's ear. "D'you think they suspect Hagrid?"

"We've got to go and talk to him," said Harry, making up his mind. "I can't believe it's him, but he might be able to help us figure out who opened the Chamber of Secrets, and what exactly happened fifty years ago. It's a start, anyway."

"But McGonagall said we've got to stay in our tower unless we're in class—"

"I think," said Harry, more quietly still, "it's time to get my dad's old cloak out again."

**Read and Review Please!**


	15. Talking With Spiders

**Hey everyone. Gah, this is probably the first time I've said that I don't like this chapter very much. Now that Mia's been petrified, it's just Harry's POV right now, and it is very hard for me trying not to copy directly out of the book, because if that's the case, we might as well just whip out our own books right now to save the trouble. I tried changing a few things around, but they're small things, so if it's still too much like the book to some of you, I do apologize and will try to do better in future chapters. I think maybe after this book I'll consider asking for anyone who is interested in being my beta. I'm sorry guys, I'm trying, but the good news is, there should only be just a couple chapters left before the end of the book. **** I'm so happy with how far this is going, and I can't wait to see it finished. **

**Any comments or question, please feel free to ask! I hope you guys like it, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer(especially for this chapter): All things Harry Potter are not mine. **

Chapter Fifteen: Talking With Spiders

HPOV

Harry and Ron had to wait until everyone had fallen asleep before they could leave to go and visit Hagrid. Once Dean, Neville, and Seamus had all gotten settled and went to bed, Harry and Ron quietly got dressed, and Harry took his father's invisibility cloak out of his trunk. They left their dorm and silently made their way down to the common room, where they threw the cloak over themselves before leaving through the portrait hole. It wasn't easy getting through the castle. Teacher's, prefects and ghosts were patrolling through the corridors, so Harry and Ron had to be extra careful than they normally were, since the cloak didn't prevent them from making any kind of noise. It took twice as long as normal for them to finally reach the entrance hall, and once they did, they made sure that the coast was clear before slowly opened the large oak doors leading outside.

The night air was pleasantly cool, the sky scattered with bright stars. Moving quickly, the boys rushed across the grounds towards Hagrid's hut, their feet moving swiftly across the grass. When they reached it, they pulled the cloak off of their bodies and knocked on the front door. In the next moment, Hagrid flung open the door, a giant crossbow in his hands. Once he saw who it was though, he lowered the weapon and let out a soft sigh of relief.

"What're you two doin' here?" he asked them.

"We needed to talk to you Hagrid," Harry said, eyeing the crossbow. "What's that for?"

"Nothin'—nothin'—" Hagrid muttered. "I've bin expectin'—doesn' matter. Sit down, I'll make tea."

He invited Harry and Ron inside, where they took seats by the fireplace. As he worked, Hagrid hardly seemed to know what he was doing. He nearly extinguished the fire, spilling water from the kettle on it, and then smashed the teapot with a nervous jerk of his massive hand.

"Are you okay, Hagrid?" said Harry.

"I'm fine—jus' fine," Hagrid answered.

"Did you hear about Hermione and Mia?" Ron asked him.

"Oh, I heard, all righ'," said Hagrid, a slight break in his voice. He looked over to the wall where Harry saw the drawing Mia had made for him, hanging next to the window closest to his bed in a wooden frame. Hagrid's beetle black eyes turned glassy.

"One o' the best gifts I've gotten," he muttered sadly. "Mia can sure draw, eh? Real talent ther, she 'as…"

"Hagrid," Harry said softly. "There's something we have to ask you. Do—do you know who's opened the Chamber of Secrets?"

Hagrid was silent for a moment as he stared at Harry, his face looking pained and scared. He hesitated for a moment before he took another calming sigh, and just as he opened his mouth to answer, there was a sudden loud and sharp knock on the front door. Hagrid had a panicked expression on his face, and he wildly gestured for Harry and Ron to put on the cloak, which they hurriedly did. While Harry and Ron pulled themselves into a corner, Hagrid seized his crossbow and carefully aimed it once again before throwing the door open.

"Good evening, Hagrid," greeted a familiar voice.

"Professor Dumbledore, sir," Hagrid said, lowering his crossbow. He allowed Dumbledore inside, along with a second, very odd-looking man. He had rumpled grey hair and an anxious expression, wearing a strange mixture of clothes: a pinstriped suit, a scarlet tie, a long black cloak, and pointed purple boots. Under his arm he carried a lime-green bowler.

"That's Dad's boss!" Ron breathed. "Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic!"

"Quiet!" Harry hissed, elbowing Ron hard to make him shut up.

Once everyone was finally inside, Hagrid dropped into a seat at the table, swallowing hard before looking anxiously from Fudge to Dumbledore, the fear more evident in his eyes.

"Bad business, Hagrid," said Fudge in rather clipped tones. "Very bad business. Had to come. Five attacks on Muggle-borns. Things've gone far enough. Ministry's got to act."

"I never," said Hagrid, looking imploringly at Dumbledore. "You know I never, Professor Dumbledore, sir—"

"I want it understood, Cornelius, that Hagrid has my full confidence," said Dumbledore, frowning at Fudge.

"Look, Albus," said Fudge, uncomfortably. "Hagrid's record's against him. Ministry's got to do something—the school governors have been in touch—"

"Yet again, Cornelius, I tell you that taking Hagrid away will not help in the slightest," said Dumbledore fiercely, his blue eyes seemingly on fire.

"Look at it from my point of view," said Fudge, fidgeting with his bowler. "I'm under a lot of pressure. Got to be seen to be doing something. If it turns out it wasn't Hagrid, he'll be back and no more said. But I've got to take him. Got to. Wouldn't be doing my duty—"

"Take me?" said Hagrid, who was trembling. "Take me where?"

"For a short stretch only," said Fudge, not meeting Hagrid's eyes. "Not a punishment, Hagrid, more a precaution. If someone else is caught, you'll be let out with a full apology—"

"Not Azkaban?" croaked Hagrid. Harry felt his insides churn. He remembered the night they were interrogating Malfoy in the Slytherin common room, and Malfoy had mentioned Azkaban. Mia had said it was the wizard prison, and Harry distinctly remembered how her face went pale and the barely noticeable fear that briefly crossed her face as she said it. It must be a horrible place, and seeing Hagrid's expression right now only confirmed it. He looked terrified, his face pale and sweaty, his hands shaking on the table. Hagrid was one of the bravest people Harry had ever known, and it shocked him to see him in this state. Before Fudge could answer Hagrid, there was another loud rap on the door. Dumbledore went forward to answer it, and it was Harry turn to receive an elbow to the ribs as he had let out an audible gasp at who was there—Lucius Malfoy. Malfoy stepped into the house with a rather smug and satisfied smile on his face, as if the sight before him couldn't have pleased him more.

"Already here, Fudge," he said approvingly. "Good, good…"

"What're you doin' here?" said Hagrid furiously. "Get outta my house!"

"My dear man, please believe me, I have no pleasure at all in being inside your—er—d'you call this a house?" said Lucius Malfoy, sneering as he looked around the small cabin. "I simply called at the school and was told that the headmaster was here."

Harry had a bad feeling in his gut when Malfoy said this, and he figured whatever he wanted with Professor Dumbledore, it couldn't be good. His fears were instantly proven when Malfoy announced that the board of governors has called for Professor Dumbledore's suspension for not being able to stop the attacks on students.

"What?" gasped Fudge while Hagrid looked outraged. "See here Lucius—"

"This is an Order of Suspension," Malfoy continued. "You'll find all twelve signatures on it. I'm afraid we feel you're losing your touch. How many attacks have there been now? Three more this afternoon, wasn't it? At this rate, there'll be no Muggle-borns left at Hogwarts, and we all know what an awful loss that would be to the school."

Harry grit his teeth at the smirk that was curling in the corner of Malfoy's mouth.

"Oh, come now, Lucius," said Fudge, looking alarmed. "Dumbledore suspended—no, no—last thing we want just now."

"The appointment—or suspension— of the headmaster is a matter for the governors, Fudge," said Mr. Malfoy smoothly. "And as Dumbledore has failed to stop these attacks—"

"Malfoy, if Dumbledore can't stop them," said Fudge, "I mean to say, who can?"

Malfoy, Fudge, and even Hagrid continued to argue for another minute or so about the decision to suspend Professor Dumbledore, and Hagrid even went as far as accusing Malfoy of blackmailing the governors into signing the agreement. After a while Professor Dumbledore had told Hagrid to calm down and faced Malfoy, looking him directly in the eye.

"If the governors want my removal, Lucius, I shall of course step aside—"

"But—" stuttered Fudge.

"No!" growled Hagrid.

"However," said Dumbledore, speaking very slowly and clearly so that none of them could miss a word. "You will find that I will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me. Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it."

For a second, Harry was almost sure Dumbledore's eyes flickered toward the corner where he and Ron were hidden.

"Admirable sentiments," said Malfoy. "We shall all miss your—er—highly individual way of running things, Albus, and only hope your successor will manage to prevent any—ah—_killins_, as Hagrid would say."

Malfoy strode to the cabin door, opened it, and bowed Dumbledore out. Fudge, fiddling with his bowler, waited for Hagrid to go ahead of him, but Hagrid didn't move. His own eyes flickered over to Harry and Ron, and then he took a deep breath and said carefully, "If anyone wanted ter find out some stuff, all they'd have ter do would be ter follow the spiders. That'd lead 'em right. That's all I'm sayin'."

With that being said, Hagrid left the cabin, and Fudge followed him outside, closing the door behind him with a sharp click. The moment it was clear, Ron pulled off the invisibility cloak, staring at Harry with a horror-filled look.

"We're in trouble now," he said hoarsely. "No Dumbledore. They might as well close the school tonight. There'll be an attack a day with him gone."

"I can't believe they're taking him to prison," Harry said. "They have no proof that he even did anything."

"Not just any prison, mate," Ron said gravely. "Azkaban. I honestly don't know how Hagrid is going to make it in there."

"Is it really as bad as it seems?" Harry asked.

"Worse. Much worse," Ron replied. "Come on, we should get back up to the school."

The two of them threw the cloak over themselves and then made their way out of the house, moving quietly across the grounds. By the time they bypassed all the teachers and made their way back up to Gryffindor tower, it was very late, and Harry felt very tired. When they were in the common room, they took off the invisibility cloak and headed upstairs to their dorm. They dressed back in their pajamas and agreed to talk more about what had happened that night in the morning. As Harry climbed into bed, he found Sapphire curled up above his pillow, sleeping soundly. He smiled tiredly at the cat and settled into his blankets. Before he drifted off to sleep however, he looked over at the bedside table, where he placed the piece of parchment that he, Ron and Hermione found at the scene where Mia was attacked. _Serpents. _What did that mean? What was Mia looking for? He sighed heavily before taking off his glasses and setting them next to the parchment, getting comfortable on the bed and allowing himself to fall asleep.

…

Now that Dumbledore was gone, there was more fear than ever floating throughout the castle. There was barely any more laughter, and hardly anyone ever smiled as much as they used to. Everyone walked together in tight knit groups, and no one was really allowed to go out on the grounds anymore, which was a shame, because the warm days of summer were now upon them, bringing periwinkle blue skies, puffy white clouds that drifted lazily by, soothing breezes that ruffled their hair and brightly colored wildflowers that grew by the lake, dancing with the blades of grass in the wind. Sometimes Harry would look out the window at Hagrid's house, missing his giant friend terribly. And to make things worse, he and Ron weren't even allowed to visit Mia and Hermione in the hospital wing anymore. The school didn't want to take the chance of the heir coming to finish off the petrified victims, and so everyone was banned from the hospital wing until further notice. It hurt Harry that he couldn't see his friends, even more so that he was nowhere near finding out what he could do to help them.

Ever since Hagrid had given him that hint about the spiders, he had been trying to find some, but it appears that all the spiders had vacated the castle. Harry couldn't find a single one even with Ron's help, albeit reluctantly. They were hampered, of course, by the fact that they weren't allowed to wander off on their own but had to move around the castle in a pack with the other Gryffindors. Most of their fellow students seemed glad that they were being shepherded from class to class by teachers, but Harry found it very irksome. With everything that was going on, there was only one person who was greatly enjoying this turn of events.

Draco Malfoy was strutting around the school as though he had just been appointed Head Boy. Harry didn't realize what he was so pleased about until the Potions lesson about two weeks after Dumbledore and Hagrid had left, when, sitting right behind Malfoy, Harry overheard him gloating to Crabbe and Goyle.

"I always thought Father might be the one who got rid of Dumbledore," he said, not troubling to keep his voice down. "I told you he thinks Dumbledore's the worst headmaster the school's ever had. Maybe we'll get a decent headmaster now. Someone who won't want the Chamber of Secrets closed. McGonagall won't last long, she's only filling in…"

Snape swept past Harry, making no comment about Mia's nor Hermione's empty seats and cauldrons. Malfoy continued on making comments on how Snape should apply for the Headmaster's job, and how he would be the best one Hogwarts ever had. It made Harry sick to see Malfoy sucking up for Snape, and hearing how cheerful he was about things being so horrible. Instead of snapping at him to be quiet and get back to work, Snape just told Malfoy to settle down, a smile on his lips.

"That little git," he heard Ron grumble from next to him. "I'd like to punch that smirk right off his face…"

"I'm quite surprised the Mudbloods haven't all packed their bags by now," Malfoy went on after Snape had walked away. "Bet you five Galleons the next one dies. Pity it wasn't Granger or Thatcher—"

The bell rang at that moment, which was very lucky—at Malfoy's last words, Ron and Harry had leapt off their stools, and in the scramble to collect bags and books, their attempts to reach Malfoy went unnoticed. Neville and Dean held Ron back while Seamus nearly had to crush Harry against him to make sure he didn't tackle the ignorant blonde Slytherin. Harry was seething, his teeth bared and wanting nothing more than to strangle the life out of Malfoy. How _dare _he say that about his friends? How _dare _he say that about Mia?!

"Let me at him," Ron growled as Neville and Dean hung onto his arms. "I don't care, I don't need my wand, I'm going to kill him with my bare hands—"

"Get _off _ Seamus!" Harry hissed, still fighting to get to the smirking Malfoy.

"Harry, you can't!" Neville said. "You won't be doing Hermione or Mia any good, and he's not worth it!"

"Yes he is!" Ron snapped. "I don't care if I get a detention, I'm going to rearrange his face so badly no one will want to look at him anymore!"

After a little while, Harry started to lessen his struggling while Ron continued to fight off Neville and Dean most of the way down to Herbology. He finally calmed down when they started going down the luscious green slopes of the grounds towards the greenhouses, and Neville and Dean warily let go of him, although his hands were still clenched into fists by his side.

"Hermione and Mia are more than he'll ever be," Ron snarled. "If I hear one more word out of him I'll make sure to hide his body in the forest where no one will find him..."

For class that day, Professor Sprout set them all to work pruning the Abyssinian Shrivelfigs. Harry and Ron went to go work at a table by themselves, as their usual partners were no longer with them. Mia's friend, Alex, asked politely if he could work with them, to which Harry and Ron agreed to. At some point during the class, Ernie Macmillan had made his way over to Harry, but instead of yelling angrily at him, Ernie looked at him with guilt.

"I just want to say, Harry, that I'm sorry I ever suspected you," Ernie said awkwardly. "I know you'd never attack Hermione Granger, and I definitely know you would never do anything to hurt Mia, I know how close you two are. Alex, I'm sorry I wouldn't listen to you or Jenna either. I apologize for all the stuff I said. We're all in the same boat now, and, well…"

Ernie held out his hand to Harry, and after looking at him for a couple seconds, Harry shook it. Looking a little relieved, Ernie asked if he and Hannah Abbott could come over and work with them as well. Soon their table was full again and as they worked, Ernie voiced his new suspicion about Malfoy possibly being the heir of Slytherin, which Harry and Ron immediately shot down, knowing for a fact that Malfoy wasn't. Alex tried making things a little less tense by changing the subject, asking them all what their plans were for the summer holidays. While Hannah was talking about the vacation she was taking in Brighton with her family, Harry noticed something out of the corner of his eye that made him pause in his work.

On the outside glass wall of the greenhouse, several large, black spiders were scuttling over the ground, moving in an unnaturally straight line as though taking the shortest route to a prearranged meeting. Harry discreetly nudged Ron and gestured over to the spiders. Ron swallowed nervously as he watched them, shifting uneasily. His discomfort became even more prudent when Harry pointed out that the spiders seemed to be heading towards the forest.

"The forest?" he said, his voice strangely high. "But we can't…how can we…"

"You all right Ron?" Alex asked, seeing Ron's paling face. "You don't look too good."

"I'm fine," he replied, trying to pull himself together. Once the class was finished, Professor Sprout made sure everyone was set to go before she started escorting them to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Harry and Ron took their time walking until they were behind everyone else so they could talk without being heard.

"We'll have to use the Invisibility Cloak again," Harry told Ron. "We can take Fang with us. He's used to going into the forest with Hagrid, he might be some help."

"Right," said Ron, who was twirling his wand nervously in his fingers. "Er—aren't there—aren't there supposed to be werewolves in the forest?"

"It's not a full moon tonight," Harry said, "There are good things in there, too. The centaurs are all right, and the unicorns…"

Ron gulped and Harry completely understood why—he had never been to the Forbidden Forest before, and was obviously worried about what they would run into. The two of them made their way into Lockhart's class with everyone else and took their usual seats in the very back. Soon enough, Lockhart bounded into the room and, unlike the rest of the staff, he was looking very cheerful and rather giddy, as if this was some sort of tea party.

"Come now," he cried, beaming around him. "Why all these long faces?"

People swapped exasperated looks, but nobody answered.

"Don't you people realize," said Lockhart, speaking slowly, as though they were all a bit dim. "The danger has passed! The culprit has been taken away—"

"Says who?" said Dean Thomas loudly.

"My dear young man, the Minister of Magic wouldn't have taken Hagrid if he hadn't been one hundred percent sure that he was guilty," said Lockhart, in the tone of someone explaining that one and one made two.

"Oh, yes he would," said Ron, even more loudly than Dean.

"I flatter myself knowing a touch more about Hagrid's arrest than you do, Mr. Weasley," said Lockhart in a self-satisfied tone.

Ron started to say that he didn't think so, but stopped in midsentence when Harry kicked him hard under the desk.

"We weren't there, remember?" Harry muttered.

But Lockhart's disgusting cheeriness, his hints that he had always thought Hagrid was no good, his confidence that the whole business was now at an end, irritated Harry so much that he yearned to throw Gadding with Ghouls right in Lockhart's stupid face. However, instead he contented himself with scrawling a note to Ron: _Let's do it tonight._

Ron read the message, swallowed hard, and looked sideways at the empty seats usually filled by Hermione and Mia. The sight seemed to stiffen his resolve, and he nodded.

_For the girls, _he wrote back.

…

"Harry, can we _please _go back now?" Ron said, his voice shaking as much as his body.

"It can't be too much further, come on," Harry answered, keeping his eyes on the trail of spiders of the ground.

It was late at night, and Harry and Ron were wandering around in the Forbidden Forest, following a long trail of spiders with Fang at their heels. They had been walking for quite some time, and the farther they went, the more nervous they became. Fang was enjoying himself, probably missing his nightly wanderings with Hagrid, and was walking happily alongside Harry's legs. Harry wand was lit, and he kept his sight on the spiders below him, hoping that he would figure out why it was so important for Hagrid to say to follow them. After a while, the spiders left the path, and it was so dark that anything outside of Harry's little sphere of light was impossible to see. He had never been this deep into the forest before, and he remembered Hagrid advising him never to stray off the path, but he knew that they had to keep following them, wherever they may go.

"What d'you reckon?" Harry said.

"We've come this far," said Ron. So they followed the darting shadows of the spiders into the trees. It was a little hard for them to maneuver with all the roots and tree stumps in their way, but thankfully they didn't fall. Harry could feel Fang's hot breath on his hand, and more than once, they had to stop, so that he could crouch down and find the spiders in the wand light. The further they walked, the more thick the tress became, along with growing taller and taller. Harry was just wondering when they would ever stop when Fang suddenly let loose a great, echoing bark, making both Harry and Ron jump out of their skins. They both turned around and squinted through the darkness. Something loud and something big was making its way towards them from the right, and Ron let out a small whimper as he gripped Harry's arm tightly. The two boys were frozen to the spot, unable to figure out what was coming. Eventually, the strange rumbling noise ceased and there was silence. After about a minute or so, there was a sudden and blinding blaze of light, so powerful that Harry and Ron had to shield their eyes, and Fang let out a loud yelp as he stumbled backwards.

"Harry!" Ron shouted, his voice breaking with relief "Harry, it's our car!"

"What?"

"Come on!"

Harry blundered after Ron toward the light, stumbling and tripping, and a moment later they had emerged into a clearing. Mr. Weasley's car was standing, empty, in the middle of a circle of thick trees under a roof of dense branches, its headlights ablaze. The forest had clearly turned it wild, for there were scratches, dents, and mud coating it from front to back. Harry was amazed to see that it had been in the forest all this time. As Ron stood there staring at it, Harry turned and saw that they had lost track of the spiders on the ground. Just as he was about to suggest going off to find them, he saw Ron stiffen, his face going about three shades white and his mouth opening in a silent, terrified scream as he looked at something that was directly behind Harry. Before he could ask what was wrong, Harry suddenly felt something long and hairy seize him around the middle and he let out a surprised yell as something lifted him off the ground, so that he was hanging facedown. He could hear Ron yelling from beneath him and saw his feet disappear as well, and he realized that there must be more than one of these things. Harry heard Fang whine as another of these creatures took him as well, and before he knew it, they were venturing into the very heart of the Forbidden Forest, where the trees were as tall as giants, and soon enough, Harry could hear the clicking of sharp black pinchers. He turned his head to get a better view, and what he saw made his insides churn with fear.

Spiders. Everywhere around him were gigantic, hairy and fierce looking spiders, clicking away madly as the one holding him brought him to what appeared to be a web dome in the middle of a vast hollow that had been cleared of trees, so that the stars shone brightly overhead. The spider that was carrying him dropped him to the ground, and he heard two more thumps and figured Ron had been dropped as well, along with Fang. Harry heard the spider call for Aragog loudly through his pinchers, and, to Harry's horror and amazement, a spider the size of a small elephant emerged slowly from the middle of the web. There was gray in the black of his body and legs, and each of the eyes on his ugly, pincered head was milky white. He was blind.

"What is it?" he said, clicking his pincers rapidly.

"Humans," clicked the spider who had caught Harry.

"Is it Hagrid?" said Aragog, moving closer.

"Strangers," clicked the spider who had brought Ron.

"Kill them," clicked Aragog fretfully. "I was sleeping…"

"We're friends of Hagrid's," Harry shouted. Aragog paused, his eyes fixed on where he heard Harry's voice.

"Hagrid has never sent others into our hollow before," he said slowly.

"Hagrid's in trouble," said Harry, breathing very fast. "That's why we've come."

"In trouble?" said the aged spider, and Harry thought he heard concern beneath the clicking pincers. "But why has he sent you?"

Harry explained to Aragog how there had been attacks by a monster up at the school, and how Hagrid had been sent to Azkaban because of it. Aragog had reacted fiercely to this, clicking his pinchers angrily and yelling so his voice echoed throughout the hollow. Harry gathered his courage and had asked Aragog if he had come from the Chamber of Secrets.

"I!" said Aragog. "I was not born in the castle. I come from a distant land. A traveler gave me to Hagrid when I was an egg. Hagrid was only a boy, but he cared for me, hidden in a cupboard in the castle, feeding me on scraps from the table. Hagrid is my good friend, and a good man. When I was discovered, and blamed for the death of a girl, he protected me. I have lived here in the forest ever since, where Hagrid still visits me. He even found me a wife, Mosag, and you see how our family has grown, all through Hagrid's goodness…"

Harry continued to ask Aragog questions, and, despite being scared, he felt extremely relieved with what Aragog had said. As it turned out, Hagrid had never opened the Chamber of Secrets, and when Aragog had been blamed for the death of a girl, Hagrid brought him to the forest where he took care of him. Harry had asked him if he knew what the monster was, and Aragog once again started clicking in fury, along with the rest of the spiders in the hollow. He said that it was an ancient creature that spiders feared above all others, and he also told Harry that the body of the girl who died was discovered in a bathroom. He refused to speak the name of the monster, but Harry felt as if they had all the information that they would be getting at that point.

"We'll just go, then," Harry called to Aragog, hearing leaves rustling behind him. He turned his head to see that the spiders were starting to close in on him and Ron, and his heart beat faster.

"Go?" said Aragog slowly. "I think not…"

"But—but—"

"My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid, on my command. But I cannot deny them fresh meat, when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Good-bye, friend of Hagrid."

They couldn't have been in a worse situation. Harry hurriedly got to his feet, dragging a petrified Ron with him and pulling his wand out of his pocket, even though he knew it was hopeless. There was a wall of spiders closing in on them, and Harry didn't see how they were going to get out of this alive.

All of a sudden, they heard a familiar rumbling sound, and the blaring of bright headlights. Harry looked over and saw that Mr. Weasley's car was thundering down the slope, headlights glaring, its horn screeching, and knocking spiders aside. Several were thrown onto their backs, their endless legs waving in the air. The car screeched to a halt in front of Harry and Ron and the doors flew open. Ron grabbed Fang and tossed him into the back while Harry quickly got in the front in the passenger seat. As soon as they were in, the car engine roared and then they were off, knocking down more spiders along the way. They drove out of the hollow, and the car went as fast as lightning, dodging fallen tree trunks, scratching itself on branches, and winding along the bumpy ground, rocking Harry, Ron and Fang inside. After what seemed like forever, but was really only about ten minutes, the trees started to thin out and Harry could tell they were getting closer and closer to the edge of the forest. Then, at long last, the car came to a halt and Harry saw that they were finally out of the forest and next to Hagrid's house. He opened the door and Fang immediately jumped out, running straight into Hagrid's house. Ron, still looking pale and his mouth still open, shakily climbed out of the car and wobbled over to the pumpkin patch next to the house while Harry watched the car back itself up into the forest once again, disappearing through the trees. He turned around to see Ron being violently sick in the pumpkin patch.

"Follow the spiders," said Ron weakly, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "_Follow the spiders! _If Hagrid ever gets out of Azkaban, I'll kill him! We're lucky to be alive."

"I bet he thought Aragog wouldn't hurt friends of his," said Harry.

"That's exactly Hagrid's problem!" said Ron. "He always thinks monsters aren't as bad as they're made out, and look where it's got him! What was the point of sending us in there? What have we found out, I'd like to know?"

"That Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets," said Harry. "He was innocent—at least we definitely know that he's been framed."

"Let's just get out of here," Ron muttered. Harry went inside Hagrid's house to get the invisibility cloak, and when he came back, he threw it over Ron and himself, and then the two of them started walking back up to the castle. It didn't take them very long, as they were both so eager to get back into bed, and once they slipped in through the front doors, they quickly passed by the teachers that were still on night watch and headed back up to Gryffindor tower, where they gave the password to the Fat Lady wand went inside the common room. When they walked back up to their dorm, Ron went straight to bed while Harry sat down on the edge of his bed, thinking hard about everything Aragog had said. The aging spider had said that the creature was something that spiders feared more than anything—but what kind of creature could scare cart-sized spiders like that?

Harry sighed heavily before leaning back onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling, deep in thought. Riddle had caught the wrong person, the Heir of Slytherin had got off, and no one could tell whether it was the same person, or a different one, who had opened the Chamber this time. There was nobody else to ask. Harry went over Aragog's words in his head, trying to make sense of them. A monster that scared spiders…one that could possibly live a great number of years…and the girl who died was found in a bathroom—

Harry sat bolt upright in bed, his eyes widening as realization hit him dead in the face.

"Ron," he hissed through the dark, "Ron —"

Ron woke with a yelp like Fang's, stared wildly around, until he saw Harry.

"Ron—that girl who died. Aragog said she was found in a bathroom," said Harry. "What if she never left the bathroom? What if she's still there?"

Ron rubbed his eyes, frowning through the moonlight. And then he understood, too.

"You don't think—not _Moaning_ Myrtle?"

…..

After realizing that Moaning Myrtle was the one the monster had killed fifty years ago, Harry and Ron had tried to figure out a way to go and talk to her. Because of the restrictions on the castle, it was going to be nearly impossible to sneak off on their own to go to a girl's bathroom at the scene of the first attack—they'd have a better chance at getting a hug from Snape. Even more so, after their trip into the forest, Professor McGonagall had announced that their final exams would be taking place in just a week's time. There was an instant outburst at this, and Harry's mind was swimming. With everything that has happened, he didn't think that there would still be exams, and he could hardly find a way for himself to study and focus. Ron also looked displease, seeing as he thought he wouldn't be able to do much with his still-broken wand.

However, they received a bit of good news just a few days before the start of their first exam. Professor McGonagall had made an announcement at breakfast, saying that the Mandrakes were finally ready to be made into the remedial potion. That night, they would be waking up everyone who had been petrified, and would be one step closer to solving the mystery of the Heir of Slytherin. McGonagall's announcement was met with loud cheers, and Harry felt positively elated. Hermione and Mia will be getting better soon! By tomorrow morning he'll get to see them again, and the last few months will feel like nothing ever happened. He was so close to seeing his friends again, and the thought made smile when he imagined squeezing the life out of Mia when he saw her.

"It won't matter that we never asked Myrtle, then!" Ron said to Harry, beaming. "Hermione and Mia will probably have all the answers when they wake them up! Mind you, they'll go crazy when they finds out we've got exams in three days' time. They haven't studied. It might be kinder to leave them where they are until they're over."

Just then, Ginny Weasley came over to them and sat down next to Ron. Harry saw that she looked tense and nervous, and he noticed that her hands were twisting in her lap. She looked like she wanted to tell them something but was too scared.

"What's up?" said Ron.

Ginny didn't say anything, but glanced up and down the Gryffindor table with a frightened look on her face that reminded Harry of someone, though he couldn't think who. She started rocking gently back and forth in her seat, biting her lip, and Harry realized who Ginny reminded him off—she looked exactly like Dobby did when he was about to reveal forbidden information. Harry gently encouraged her to tell them, and she looked at him, her eyes portraying her fear. She took a deep breath and just when she opened her mouth to say something, Percy came striding towards them, looking tired and worn.

"If you've finished eating, I'll take that seat, Ginny. I'm starving, I've only just come off patrol duty."

Ginny jumped up as though her chair had just been electrified, gave Percy a fleeting, frightened look, and scampered away. Percy sat down in her seat and grabbed a mug from the center of the table, pouring himself some tea and raising it to his lips.

"Percy!" said Ron angrily. "She was just about to tell us something important!"

Percy choked a little on his tea and stared at Ron with wide eyes.

"What sort of thing?" he said, coughing.

"I just asked her if she'd seen anything odd, and she started to say…"

"Oh—that—that's nothing to do with the Chamber of Secrets," said Percy at once, his neck going a little red.

"How do you know?" said Ron, his eyebrows raised.

"Well, er, if you must know, Ginny, er, walked in on me the other day when I was—well, never mind—the point is, she spotted me doing something and I, um, I asked her not to mention it to anybody. I must say, I did think she'd keep her word. It's nothing, really, I'd just rather—"

"What were you doing, Percy?" said Ron, grinning. "Go on, tell us, we won't laugh."

"Pass me those rolls, Harry, I'm starving," he said, quickly changing the subject.

After breakfast was done, Harry and Ron were still facing the issue of trying to find some way to speak to Myrtle. Even though he was sure that Hermione and Mia had the answers, he didn't want to miss a chance to talk to Myrtle. Later on that day, Lockhart was escorting them down the corridor to their History of Magic class, and he was talking nonstop about how the first thing the petrified victims would say would be that it was Hagrid who had attacked them. Harry was quickly growing annoyed at Lockhart's attitude, as was Ron, who kept glancing at his wand in his pocket, like he was debating or not whether it was worth it to use it on Lockhart to shut him up. Harry just mostly toned Lockhart out until something he said caught his interest, and he immediately saw a golden opportunity.

"…astounded Professor McGonagall thinks all these security measures are necessary," Lockhart was saying loudly.

"I agree, sir," said Harry, making Ron drop his books in surprise.

"Thank you, Harry," said Lockhart graciously while they waited for a long line of Hufflepuffs to pass. "I mean, we teachers have quite enough to be getting on with, without walking students to classes and standing guard all night…"

"That's right," said Ron, catching on at Harry's pointed look. "Why don't you leave us here, sir, we've only got one more corridor to go."

"You know, Weasley, I think I will," said Lockhart. "I really should go and prepare my next class."

With that being said, Lockhart quickly turned around and walked back down the corridor, his lavender robes billowing behind.

"Prepare his class," Ron sneered after him. "Gone to curl his hair, more like."

Harry and Ron lagged behind the rest of the Gryffindors, and as soon as it was clear, they raced off down another corridor, making their way down to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. However, they didn't get very far before they heard a sharp voice call out both their names, and they froze on the spot.

"Potter! Weasley! What are you doing?"

It was Professor McGonagall, and she was not looking very happy to see them wandering around by themselves.

"We were—we were—" Ron stammered. "We were going to—to go and see—"

"Hermione and Mia," said Harry. Ron and Professor McGonagall both looked at him.

"We haven't seen them in ages, Professor," Harry went on hurriedly, treading on Ron's foot. "And we thought we'd sneak into the hospital wing, you know, and tell them the Mandrakes are nearly ready and, er, not to worry—"

Professor McGonagall was still staring at him, and for a moment, Harry thought she was going to explode, but when she spoke, it was in a strangely croaky voice.

"Of course," she said, and Harry, amazed, saw a tear glistening in her beady eye. "Of course, I realize this has all been hardest on the friends of those who have been…I quite understand. Yes, Potter, of course you may visit Miss Granger and Miss Thatcher. I will inform Professor Binns where you've gone. Tell Madam Pomfrey I have given my permission."

Not believing their luck, Harry and Ron walked away, having no choice but to head up to the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey was wary about letting them in, seeing no point as Hermione and Mia wouldn't be able to hear them anyway. She reluctantly let them inside, and the two boys walked over to Mia and Hermione's beds. Harry sat down next to Mia, staring into her face. It really has been ages since he's been here to visit her, and he still missed her terribly. He reached over to take her hand in his, rubbing the back of it softly.

"Wonder if either of them did see the attacker, though?" said Ron, looking sadly at Hermione's rigid face. "Because if he sneaked up on them all, no one will ever know…"

Harry nodded, sighing softly, before looking over at Hermione's still form. His eyes wandered over to her hands, and he had to do a double take. As he kept staring at it, he saw that Hermione's right hand was laying clenched on top of her blankets, and, after getting p and bending closer, he saw that a piece of paper was scrunched inside her fist. Making sure that Madam Pomfrey was nowhere near, he pointed this out to Ron, whose eyes widened.

"Go on and get it out," Ron whispered, so that he blocked Harry from Madam Pomfrey's view.

Harry leaned over and after fighting for a few tense minutes, he had managed to get the piece of paper out of Hermione's firm grip without tearing it up. It turned out to be a page torn from a very old library book, and once Harry had smoothed it out, he moved closer to Ron so the two of them could read it together.

_"Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it."_

And beneath this, a single word had been written, in a hand Harry recognized as Hermione's. _Pipes._

For a moment, neither Harry nor Ron moved or made a sound. Harry's brain was going on overdrive, and it was as if a light bulb was finally lit in his head. After so many months of looking for answers he finally had them in his hands! This was it! The petrified people, the voice—everything!

"Ron," he breathed. "This is it. This is the answer. The monster in the Chamber's a basilisk—a giant serpent! That's why I've been hearing that voice all over the place, and nobody else has heard it. It's because I understand Parseltongue…"

Harry looked up at the beds around him, taking in every petrified face.

"The Basilisk kills people by looking at them. But no one's died—because no one looked it straight in the eye. Colin saw it through his camera. The Basilisk burned up all the film inside it, but Colin just got Petrified. Justin…Justin must've seen the basilisk through Nearly Headless Nick! Nick got the full blast of it, but he couldn't die again. And on Halloween, the floor outside of Myrtle's bathroom was flooded, so Mrs. Norris only saw the Basilisk's reflection. And Hermione and that Ravenclaw prefect were found with a mirror next to them. Hermione had just realized the monster was a basilisk. I bet you anything she warned the first person she met to look around corners with a mirror first! And that girl pulled out her mirror—and—"

Ron's jaw had dropped.

"And Mia?" he whispered. Harry looked over at Mia, gazing into her terrified face.

"Serpents," he whispered. "Hermione said that Mia was working late in the library. She had to have realized that the monster was a Basilisk, either from this book or a different one. Remember that torn up piece of parchment we found? Mia must have copied this paragraph down after figuring out it was a snake, and whoever attacked her tried to get rid of it. And the fifth floor corridor has a lot of windows—Mia must have seen the Basilisk's reflection in the glass when it was chasing her!"

"Chasing her?" said Ron.

"Think about it Ron," Harry said. "Mia's things were scattered, and her ankle was twisted, right? That meant she had to have been running from something, and Myrtle said that Mia was in the bathroom with someone the night she was attacked. I don't know why she went there, but I bet you anything she met the Heir of Slytherin in there, and they found out that Mia knew what the monster was and set it after her."

Harry took a pause as he scanned the paper in his hand.

"…the crowing of the rooster…is fatal to it!" he read aloud. "Hagrid's roosters were killed! The Heir of Slytherin didn't want one anywhere near the castle once the Chamber was opened! Spiders flee before it! It all fits!"

"But how's the basilisk been getting around the place?" said Ron. "A giant snake…someone would've seen…"

Harry, however, pointed at the word Hermione had scribbled at the foot of the page.

"Pipes," he said. "Pipes…Ron, it's been using the plumbing. I've been hearing that voice inside the walls…"

Ron suddenly grabbed Harry's arm, his eyes wide.

"The entrance to the Chamber of Secrets!" he said hoarsely. "What if it's a bathroom? What if it's in—"

"_Moaning Myrtle's bathroom_," said Harry.

The two of them sat there, completely stunned at what they had just found out.

"This means," said Harry, "I can't be the only Parselmouth in the school. The Heir of Slytherin's one, too. That's how he's been controlling the basilisk."

"What're we going to do?" said Ron, whose eyes were flashing. "Should we go straight to McGonagall?"

"Let's go to the staff room," said Harry, jumping up. "She'll be there in ten minutes. It's nearly break."

Without another word, Harry and Ron sprinted out of the infirmary and downstairs, the floor flying from underneath them. They finally reached their destination and went inside, intending on waiting for their head of house at the table. As they waited for the bell signaling break, Harry and Ron nearly jumped out of their skins when Professor McGonagall's voice, magically magnified, sounded throughout the school..

_"All students are to return to their House dormitories at once. All teachers return to the staff room. Immediately, please."_

"Not another attack? Not now?" Harry said helplessly.

"What'll we do?" said Ron, aghast. "Go back to the dormitory?"

"No," said Harry, glancing around. There was an ugly sort of wardrobe to his left, full of the teachers' cloaks. "In here. Let's hear what it's all about. Then we can tell them what we've found out."

They quickly hid inside the wardrobe, which was a good thing, because not even two seconds later, the staffroom door burst open, and all their teachers filed inside. It wasn't until the door was safely locked behind them that Professor McGonagall turned to face the others and started talking.

"It has happened," she said. "A student has been taken by the monster. Right into the Chamber itself."

Professor Flitwick let out a squeal and Professor Sprout clapped her hands over her mouth. Snape gripped the back of a chair very hard and said, "How can you be sure?"

"The Heir of Slytherin left another message," McGonagall answered. "Right underneath the first one. _'Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever.'_"

"Who is it?" said Madam Hooch. "Which student?"

Professor McGonagall looked extremely grave and seemed close to tears as she answered, and Harry felt his stomach drop horribly.

"Ginny Weasley."

**Read and review please! Tell me what you think! **


	16. Into the Chamber

**Hi guys! I'm so very sorry it took me so long to update, I haven't been feeling very well at all, and on top of that, it hasn't been the best week for me. I feel bad about making you all wait so long, and I feel worse for giving you such a crappy chapter. I tried everything I could think of, and I revised this about a thousand times, but every way I tried to write this just didn't work the way I wanted it to, or didn't sound right. So, once again, a lot of this is very similar to the book, with a couple twists and extra sentences here and there made by me. I tried to sum up most of it to make it move a little fast, but I hope you all still find it enjoyable, at least. I mean, who doesn't want to read about Harry Potter taking down a gigantic snake with the sword of Gryffindor? And to make up for the long wait, I will post up to chapters, and not just any two chapters—the ****last ****two chapters! I can't believe I'm almost done with the second book! So I hope you guys like this, and just think, one more to go! **

**Any comments, concerns, or questions, just let me know! Love you all, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter are not mine.**

Chapter Sixteen: Into the Chamber

HPOV 

Harry couldn't imagine how things could possibly be much worse. After hearing that Ginny had been taken into the chamber, Lockhart had showed up in the staffroom, his annoyingly bright smile plastered onto his face, as usual. However, that smile quickly faltered when the other teachers told him of the situation and had promptly given him the task of handling the monster by himself, as he bragged on that he could do every moment he could. Had the situation not been so serious, Harry would have laughed at the flabbergasted and desperate look on Lockhart's face. He and Ron continued on to listen as McGonagall informed the rest of the staff that all the students would be taken home the following morning on the Hogwarts Express, and that the school had no other choice but to be closed down. It wasn't until the teachers left that Harry was able to drag Ron out of the wardrobe and leave the room.

Now, they were sitting silently in the common room with the Fred and George, all with sullen and dark expressions. Percy had shut himself up in the dormitory after hearing what had happened to Ginny and sending a letter to his parents. Harry had never felt so helpless in his life…why would Ginny be taken into the chamber? She had never done any harm to anyone, and she was a pureblood as well—what could the Heir of Slytherin possibly want with her? It's been a few hours since Ginny had been taken, and Harry couldn't see how she could still be alive at this point. None of the other Gryffindors approached them, all of them feeling so sorry for the Weasleys, and after a while, Fred and George stood up without a word, heading upstairs for bed. There was a long stretch of silence before it was broken.

"D'you know what Harry?" said Ron. "I think we should go and see Lockhart—tell him what we know. He's going to try and get into the Chamber. We can tell him where we think it is, and tell him it's a Basilisk in there."

Harry nodded, only because he wanted to do something other than sit there feeling so helpless. Lockhart may be worthless, but if he's going to try to get into the chamber, than they at least had to tell him what he was going up against. The two of them got up and then started walking out of the common room and out into the empty corridor. It only took them a few minutes until they reached Lockhart's office, and when they did, Harry knocked on the door, waiting for the Defense Professor to answer. Eventually he did, but only a tiny crack, and they could see one of his bright blue eyes on the other side, staring at them anxiously.

"Oh—Mr. Potter—Mr. Weasley—" he said, opening the door a bit wider. "I'm rather busy at the moment—if you would be quick—"

"Professor, we've got some information for you," said Harry. "We think it'll help you."

"Er—well—it's not terribly—" Lockhart stuttered. "I mean—well—all right—"

He opened the door and they entered. Once they were inside, Harry came to a halt, and he immediately felt his insides start to flare in anger. Instead of preparing to go after the monster, Lockhart had spent the last few hours packing all of his things. His robes were hastily folded in one of his open trunks, books were thrown into the other, all his photographs and portraits of himself were crammed tightly into cardboard boxes and a wooden box containing his precious peacock quill was thrown carelessly on top of his jade green robes.

"Are you going somewhere?" said Harry, not liking the looks of where this was going at all.

"Er, well, yes," said Lockhart, ripping a life-size poster of himself from the back of the door as he spoke and starting to roll it up. "Urgent call—unavoidable—got to go—"

"What about my sister?" said Ron jerkily.

"Well, as to that—most unfortunate—" said Lockhart. "No one regrets more than I —"

"You're the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!" said Harry furiously. "You can't go now! Not with all the Dark stuff going on here!"

"Well—I must say—when I took the job—" Lockhart muttered, now piling socks on top of his robes. "Nothing in the job description—didn't expect—"

"You mean you're running away?" said Harry disbelievingly. "After all that stuff you did in your books?!""

"Books can be misleading," said Lockhart delicately.

"You wrote them!" Harry shouted.

"My dear boy," said Lockhart, straightening up and frowning at Harry. "Do use your common sense. My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think I'd done all those things. No one wants to read about some ugly old Armenian warlock, even if he did save a village from werewolves. He'd look dreadful on the front cover. No dress sense at all. And the witch who banished the Bandon Banshee had a harelip. I mean, come on—"

"So you've just been taking credit for what a load of other people have done?" Harry practically growled.

"Harry, Harry," said Lockhart, shaking his head impatiently. "It's not nearly as simple as that. There was work involved. I had to track these people down. Ask them exactly how they managed to do what they did. Then I had to put a Memory Charm on them so they wouldn't remember doing it. It's not all book signings and publicity photos, you know. You want fame, you have to be prepared for a long hard slog."

Harry and Ron were both glaring at Lockhart, completely outraged. Harry couldn't believe this lowlife and fraud was willing to run away while Ginny was in danger. Lockhart turned away from them and then closed the lids to the trunks.

"Let's see," he said. "I think that's everything. Yes. Only one thing left."

He pulled out his wand and turned to them.

"Awfully sorry, children, but I'll have to put a Memory Charm on you now. Can't have you blabbing my secrets all over the place. I'd never sell another book—"

Lockhart went to raise his wand, but Harry was quicker.

_"Expelliarmus!"_

Lockhart's wand went flying into the air while he was blasted off his feet from the force of the disarming spell. He went soaring into the far wall while Ron caught his wand, throwing it out the window.

"Shouldn't have let Professor Snape teach us that one," said Harry, kicking Lockhart's trunk aside. Lockhart was looking up at him, feeble once more.

"What do you want me to do?" said Lockhart weakly. "I don't know where the Chamber of Secrets is. There's nothing I can do."

"You're in luck," said Harry, forcing Lockhart to his feet at wandpoint. "We think we know where it is, and what's inside it. Let's go."

….

"Harry…Harry, there's something up there…"

Harry, Ron and Lockhart were walking through a vast, cold and dark tunnel that was miles and miles underneath the school. The ground they were walking on was made of stone, and was wet and slimy, making their footsteps soft and yet loud in the silence of the tunnel.

After figuring out Lockhart's secret, Harry and Ron took him to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, where they found her crying by one of the windows. She huffed at them as they entered, but her gloomy expression quickly disappeared when Harry asked her how she died. He had wanted to know everything he could about what happened the night that Myrtle died, and with any luck, she could tell them where exactly the entrance was to the Chamber of Secrets.

His theory was proven correct as Myrtle explained her death in great detail, how she was in the bathroom crying, and someone—a boy—came inside and started speaking a bizarre language she's never heard of before. She opened the door to the stall to tell him to go away, but all she remembered seeing was a giant pair of yellow eyes before she felt herself leaving her body. When he asked her where she saw the eye, she merely pointed over to the very last sink in front of the last stall. Harry stepped over to examine it, and, to his astonishment, he saw that there was a tiny snake scratched into the side of one of the copper taps. After a couple tries, Harry was able to open the entrance by ordering it to in Parseltoungue. The sink had opened to reveal a large pipe which they all had slide down, and now they were making their way through the darkness, with only the light from Harry's wand to guide them. However, they found their path blocked by something up ahead, unmoving and laying still in the tunnel. Swallowing hard, Harry slowly walked forward, raising his wand high above his head to get a proper look at whatever it was that was lying before them. He was stunned to see that the light slid over a gigantic snake skin of a vivid, poisonous green, lying curled and empty across the tunnel floor. The creature that had shed it must have been twenty feet long at least.

"Blimey," said Ron weakly, his face extremely pale. There was a sudden movement behind them, and both boys turned to see that Lockhart's knees had given way when he caught sight of the snake's skin.

"Heart of a lion this one," said Ron, rolling his eyes and pointing his wand at Lockhart. Lockhart took in a deep breath before he got to his feet. But then, before either of them could blink, Lockhart dived at Ron, knocking him to the ground. Harry jumped forward, but too late—Lockhart was straightening up, panting, Ron's wand in his hand and a gleaming smile back on his face.

"The adventure ends here!" he said. "I shall take a bit of this skin back up to the school, tell them I was too late to save the girl, and that you two tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body—say good-bye to your memories!"

Harry watched as Lockhart raised Ron's broken wand and yelled, _"Obliviate!"_

The wand exploded with the force of a small bomb, and Harry flung his arms over his head. He ran almost blidnly over the coils of snake skin as huge chunks or rock from the ceiling came crashing down on them, making the tunnel shake and emit dust from where they collided with the ground. As soon as all the rubble ceased to fall, Harry turned back the way he came, coughing from all the dust, and he felt his heart sink—the rocks had created a solid barricade, separating him from Ron.

"Ron!" he shouted frantically. "Are you okay? Ron!"

"I'm here!" came Ron's muffled voice from behind the rockfall. "I'm okay— this git's not, though—he got blasted by the wand—"

There was a dull thud and a loud "ow!" It sounded as though Ron had just kicked Lockhart in the shins.

"What now?" Ron's voice said, sounding desperate. "We can't get through—it'll take ages…"

Harry looked up at the tunnel ceiling and saw that huge cracks had appeared in it. He had never tried to break apart anything as large as these rocks by magic, and now didn't seem a good moment to try—what if the whole tunnel caved in? Many different thoughts and options were racing through Harry's mind, each one more time consuming than the last. They were wasting time—Ginny had already been in the Chamber of Secrets for hours. Harry knew there was only one thing to do. He didn't want to leave Ron but if they had any chance at saving Ginny, he had to go on by himself.

"Wait there," he called to Ron. "Wait with Lockhart. I'll go on and find Ginny. If I'm not back in an hour…"

"I'll try and shift some of this rock," said Ron, who seemed to be trying to keep his voice steady. "So you can—can get back through. And, Harry—let at least one person come back safely won't you."

"See you in a bit," said Harry, trying to inject some confidence into his shaking voice. He turned around and continued on walking through the dark tunnel, his heart beating much faster inside his chest. His footsteps echoed quietly against the walls, and the path seemed like an endless maze, with many twists and turns. Harry walked on for a good while, and just as he was starting to wonder if the tunnel would ever end, he came upon a solid stone wall, on which two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds. Moving cautiously, Harry approached the snakes, eyeing them carefully. As he stared at them, he guessed what he had to do, and he cleared his throat, picturing that the snakes were alive.

_"Open,"_ said Harry, in a low, faint hiss.

There was a soft rumble, and in the next instant, the snakes parted as the wall cracked open, revealing the entrance to a chamber. The halves slid smoothly out of sight, and Harry, shaking from head to foot, walked inside, his wand held out in front of him as he readied himself for whatever might be inside.

He stepped into a huge and very long chamber that was dimly lit, with a faint greenish glow reflecting off the small puddles of water scattered here and there around the stone floor. There were gigantic pillars made of greying stone, with serpents carved into them, intertwining with each other all the way up the pillar, which disappeared into the darkness of the ceiling. Harry could feel his hands shaking as he started walking through the chamber, his senses on full alert for the smallest movement. This place was beyond creepy, and a poisonous fear was slowly trickling through his veins, making him more cold than he already was when he first entered. Eventually he drew level with the last pair of pillars and he found himself staring up at a statue as high as the chamber standing up against the back wall. It was a statue of a man, with a long thin beard, sharp, piercing eyes, and a severe expression on his aging face. This has to be Salazar Slytherin. Harry's eyes traveled down the statue, where they landed on a small, black-robes figure laying in between Slytherin's feet with flaming red hair.

"Ginny!" Harry exclaimed, sprinting to Ginny and dropping to his knees. Without thinking, Harry flung his wand aside so he could tend to the small girl, taking her shoulders in his hands and turning her over onto her back. He felt dread fill his stomach as he looked into her face, which was as white as marble and she was freezing cold. Her eyes were closed, so she wasn't petrified, but that could only mean…

"No," said Harry, his voice shaking. "Ginny—don't be dead—please don't be dead—Ginny, please wake up."

Harry desperately tried shaking her, but Ginny's head just lolled hopelessly from side to side. Harry tried not to let his fear override him as he tried to think of a way to get her out of the chamber so he could get her some help. At that moment, a sudden soft voice echoed over towards him, making him jump and spin around on his knees.

"She won't wake, Harry."

A tall, black-haired and dark-eyed boy was leaning against the nearest pillar, watching. He couldn't have been no more than sixteen or seventeen at the most. He was staring at Harry with a curious and satisfied look on his face, and he was strangely blurred around the edges, as though Harry were looking at him through a misted window. But there was no mistaking him as Harry recognized his face from the face he had seen in the diary.

"Tom—Tom Riddle?" said Harry.

Riddle nodded, not taking his eyes off Harry 's face.

"What d'you mean, she won't wake?" Harry said. "She's not—she's not—?"

"She's still alive," said Riddle. "But only just."

"Are you a ghost?" Harry said uncertainly.

"A memory," replied Riddle quietly. "Preserved in a diary for fifty years."

Riddle pointed toward the floor near Ginny. Lying open there was the little black diary Harry had found in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. For a second, Harry wondered how it had got there—but there were more pressing matters to deal with. He had to get Ginny out of there.

"She's as cold as ice," Harry muttered as he touched her hand. "You've got to help me, Tom, we've got to get her out of here. There's a basilisk…I don't know where it is, but it could be along any moment. Please, help me."

Riddle didn't move an inch. He just kept on staring at Harry as he managed to hoist Ginny half off the floor, trying to keep her steady in his arms. Breathing heavily, Harry reached over to pick up his wand, only to find that it wasn't where he had left it. He searched around on the ground but his wand was nowhere in sight.

"Did you see my wand?" Harry asked. Riddle was silent, and when Harry looked up, he saw that his wand was being twirled around between Riddle's fingers. He was still staring at Harry, an almost hungry look in his eyes that caused a feeling of unease to settle in the pit of Harry's stomach. He slowly lowered Ginny back to the ground and took a step forward.

"Give me my wand, Tom," he said, reaching out his hand. A smile came across Riddle's face and he pocketed Harry's wand, never taking his eyes off him.

"You won't be needing it," Riddle said smoothly.

"What d'you mean?" Harry said. "Look, give me my wand, if the Basilisk comes—"

"It won't come until it's called," said Riddle, his smile growing wider. Harry just stood there, looking at riddle, and something seemed to click in his mind, warning him of a terrible danger.

"I've waited a long time for this, Harry Potter," Riddle continued. "For the chance to see you. To speak to you."

Harry stared at him. There was something very funny going on here…

"How did Ginny get like this?" he asked slowly.

"Well, that's an interesting question," said Riddle pleasantly. "And quite a long story. I suppose the real reason Ginny Weasley's like this is because she opened her heart and spilled all her secrets to an invisible stranger."

"What are you talking about?" said Harry.

"The diary," said Riddle. "_My_ diary. Little Ginny's been writing in it for months and months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes—how her brothers tease her, how she had to come to school with secondhand robes and books, how she didn't think famous, good, great Harry Potter would ever like her. It's very boring, having to listen to the silly little troubles of an eleven-year-old girl. But I was patient. I wrote back. I was sympathetic, I was kind, and Ginny simply loved me. _'No one's ever understood me like you, Tom… I'm so glad I've got this diary to confide in… It's like having a friend I can carry around in my pocket…_'"

Riddle laughed, a high, cold laugh that didn't suit him. It made the hairs stand up on the back of Harry's neck.

"If I say it myself, Harry, I've always been able to charm the people I needed. So Ginny poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted…I grew stronger and stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful, far more powerful than little Miss Weasley. Powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few of my secrets, to start pouring a little of my soul back into her…"

"What d'you mean?" said Harry, whose mouth had gone very dry.

"Haven't you guessed yet, Harry Potter?" said Riddle softly. "Ginny Weasley opened the Chamber of Secrets. She strangled the school roosters and daubed threatening messages on the walls. She set the Serpent of Slytherin on five Mudbloods, and the Squib's cat."

"No," Harry whispered, shaking his head. "She couldn't…she wouldn't…"

"Yes," said Riddle, calmly. "Of course, she didn't know what she was doing at first. It was very amusing. I wish you could have seen her new diary entries…far more interesting, they became…_'Dear Tom,_ _I think I'm losing my memory. There are rooster feathers all over my robes and I don't know how they got there. Dear Tom, I can't remember what I did on the night of Halloween, but a cat was attacked and I've got paint all down my front. Dear Tom, Percy keeps telling me I'm pale and I'm not myself. I think he suspects me…There was another attack today and I don't know where I was. Tom, what am I going to do? I think I'm going mad…I think I'm the one attacking everyone, Tom!'_"

Harry 's fists were clenched, the nails digging deep into his palms. Anger was spreading through him like wildfire as he watched Riddle laugh over the horrible experience that Ginny had gone through. He stood there listening as Riddle continued talking of how he had possessed Ginny, making her set the Basilisk on all those unexpecting Muggleborns, and how after a long while, Ginny started to stop trusting her diary. Apparently, it was Ginny who threw the diary away in Myrtle's bathroom, hoping to dispose of it, and that was when Harry had found it. Riddle admitted that he had been waiting to meet Harry, to talk to him since Ginny had told him all about Harry's past and famous story. He had used his capture of Hagrid to gain Harry's trust, and realizing that Riddle was the Heir of Slytherin and had framed Hagrid and got him expelled made Harry even angrier.

He listened as Riddle told him how he had left behind the diary in order to lead on another to finish the work that he had started, and, that his new target had been Harry himself. He also told Harry how Ginny had stolen the diary back from him when she saw him with it, fearing that Riddle would tell him her deepest secrets, and who it was that was attacking everyone.

"But that was a mistake on her part," Riddle said with a sadistic smile. "With the diary back in Ginny's possession, I once again had her under my control. From she told me, it became clear to me that you were on the trail of Slytherin's heir and from everything Ginny had told me about you, I knew you would go to any lengths to solve the mystery—particularly if some of your best friends were attacked."

His words made Harry's eyes narrow dangerously.

"You set the Basilisk on Mia and Hermione to get to me," he said through clenched teeth. Riddle smiled.

"It was much easier than I thought," he said. "Ginny told me of your particular close relationship with Amelia Thatcher, and I knew if something were to happen to her, you would go to any lengths to find out who the heir was. That foolish Mudblood practically delivered herself to me on a platter—she saw Ginny walking around the castle alone at night and followed her into the girl's bathroom. She was very concerned about little Ginny you see, with the way she's been acting, but when she confronted her, she didn't realize that it wasn't Ginny she was talking to…not until it was too late anyway. As soon as I learned she knew about the Basilisk, I had to silence her before she went running off to you, or even Dumbledore.

"But I knew even that wasn't good enough. I had waited long enough to meet you, so I made Ginny write her own farewell on the wall and come down here to wait. She struggled and cried, and became very boring. But there isn't much life left in her…she put too much into the diary, into me. Enough to let me leave its pages at last…I have been waiting for you to appear since we arrived here. I knew you'd come. I have many questions for you, Harry Potter."

"Like what?" Harry spat, fists still clenched.

"Well," said Riddle. "How is it that you—a tiny skinny boy with no extraordinary magical talent—managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but a scar, while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"

"Why do you care how I escaped?" said Harry. "Voldemort was after your time."

"Voldemort," said Riddle softly, "is my past, present, and future, Harry Potter…"

He pulled Harry 's wand from his pocket and began to trace it through the air, writing three shimmering words:

TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE

Then he waved the wand once, and the letters of his name rearranged themselves:

I AM LORD VOLDEMORT

Harry seemed to have been struck dumb, and he felt as if his brain had been zapped by lightning. He stared at Riddle, hardly even daring to believe that this was the boy who grew up to be the most feared and powerful dark wizard of all time, the wizard who murdered Harry's parents and so many others. Riddle talked of how he had created the name while he was still in school, how he refused to carry on the name of his filthy Muggle father, who abandoned him and his mother before he was even born. He went on how he created a name that everyone would fear to speak once he became the greatest sorcerer in the world, and that was where Harry had had enough. He had told Riddle that it was Albus Dumbledore who was the greatest wizard in the world, how he was more than anything Riddle would ever be, and even though he was away from the school, he would never be gone so long as there were people there who were still loyal to him. While he spoke this, Harry's eyes were narrowed and his jaw was set, glaring defiantly at the shadow of the young Lord Voldemort. He made it all too clear where his loyalties lied, and it cause a distasteful frown to carve itself into Riddle's face. Before he could even say anything, they were interrupted by the sound of faint and soft music that seemed to be coming from nowhere. As the seconds passed, the music steadily grew louder and louder until there was a sudden burst of flames at the top of the nearest pillar. Harry watched, amazed, as a familiar scarlet bird soared through the chamber, it's glittering golden tail fluttering behind it, while it's talons gripped a small bundle.

"Fawkes?" he muttered.

The Phoenix flew straight over towards him, his musical chirping still echoing off the walls of the chamber. As soon as he was close enough, he dropped whatever he was carrying at Harry's feet, flew a circle around their heads, and then left to go land on top of the pillar from which he came. He stared steadily at Harry and Riddle, folding his wings into his sides.

"That's a phoenix." said Riddle, staring shrewdly back at it before turning his gaze to the object at Harry's feet. "And that —that's the old school Sorting Hat—"

Harry looked down to see that he was right—laying at his feet was the dirty and patched up Sorting Hat, motionless on the wet ground.

"So this is what Dumbledore sends his defender," Riddle said, smiling evilly. "A songbird and an old hat. Do you feel brave, Harry Potter? Do you feel safe now? Well, Harry, I'm going to teach you a little lesson. Let's match the powers of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin, against the famous Harry Potter, and the best weapons Dumbledore can give her…"

Riddle walked away from Harry and stood in front of the statue of Salazar Slytherin, staring intensely at it. He raised his hand in front of him and spoke in a loud and sharp hiss. But Harry understood everything he was saying.

_"Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four," _Riddle said.

Harry slowly turned on the spot, his heart beating faster and fear spreading through his body faster than a tidal wave. He watched in horror as the mouth of the statue began to open, stretching wider and wider, leaving a huge black hole—and there was something equally as huge stirring inside, slithering through the opening.

Harry didn't waste any time to think and he immediately shut his eyes tight, moving backward a few steps, his breathing coming out in short gasps. He didn't stop moving backward until he hit the chamber wall, quickly going into a panic. Riddle was calling the Basilisk…what was Harry going to do? How can he even hope to defend himself against a monster he can't even see, much less kill it without a weapon? He heard something hit the floor of the chamber, and his blood ran cold as the next words trailed out of Riddle's mouth.

_"Kill him."_

The basilisk was moving toward Harry—he could hear its heavy body slithering heavily across the dusty floor. Eyes still tightly shut, Harry began to run blindly sideways, his hands outstretched, feeling his way around and praying that he wouldn't trip over anything—but of course, that proved to be in vain as he felt his feet hit an uneven crack in the ground and he went tumbling down face-first. He could taste the blood where he cut his lip and his knees burned a little from where he scraped them against the stone ground. The Basilisk was coming closer, and Harry couldn't see how he was going to get out of this alive.

At that moment, there was a piercing hissing sound from behind him and the next thing he knew, he was being thrown into the wall due to something with the force of a charging bull hitting him in the side, nearly taking the wind out of him. He kept his eyes shut as the hissing continued, and he thought that something must have happened because there was the distinct sound of something thrashing against the surrounding pillars, breaking off great chunks of stone and scattering them across the floor. He couldn't help it—he opened his eyes wide enough to squint at what was going on, and he gaped at the sight before him. The enormous serpent, bright, poisonous green, thick as an oak trunk, had raised itself high in the air and its great blunt head was weaving drunkenly between the pillars. As Harry watched, he quickly saw what it was that had distracted the snake.

Fawkes was soaring around its head, and the Basilisk was snapping furiously at him with fangs long and thin as sabers. Harry saw Fawkes dive towards the Basilisk's head and then there was a great splatter of blood coming from one side of the serpent's head, and it screamed in agony. Fawkes circled once and then dived in again, this time on the other side, and another scream echoed through the chamber. Before Harry could shut his eyes, it turned—Harry looked straight into its face and saw that its eyes, both its great, bulbous yellow eyes, had been punctured by the phoenix, with blood was streaming to the floor.

"_NO!_" Riddle screamed. "LEAVE THE BIRD! LEAVE THE BIRD! THE BOY IS BEHIND YOU! YOU CAN STILL SMELL HIM! KILL HIM!"

The Basilisk still swayed about, it's long tail whipping across the floor as it tried to get a sense of where Harry was. As it did this, Harry ducked to avoid the tail, and then he suddenly felt something soft hitting him on the head. When he looked up again, he saw that the basilisk had swept the Sorting Hat into Harry 's arms. Not quite knowing what he was doing, Harry seized it and rammed it onto his head.

_Help me—help me,_ Harry thought, his eyes screwed tight under the hat. _Please help me. _

Instead of an answering voice, something very hard and heavy thudded onto the top of Harry 's head, almost knocking him out. When he pulled off the hat, he saw something gleaming inside, and, on instinct, he reached inside and grasped whatever it was. His mouth dropped open as he pulled out a silver sword, its handle glittering with rubies the size of eggs. It was longer than Harry's arm and felt strangely balanced, as if it were made to fit his weight. Riddle was still screaming for the Basilisk to kill Harry, and he grasped the sword tightly in his hand and stood to his feet. The basilisk's head was falling, its body coiling around, hitting pillars as it twisted to face him He could see the vast, bloody eye sockets, see the mouth stretching wide, wide enough to swallow him whole, lined with fangs long as her sword, thin, glittering, and venomous. The large serpent took a lunge blindly, and Harry was able to move away just in time. He was breathing heavily, his heart pumping and the adrenaline he was feeling was the only way he was able to move at all. He raised the sword in his hands, ready for the next attack, and just as the Basilisk lunged again, Harry gathered all of his strength and drove it to the hilt into the roof of the serpent's open mouth. The Basilisk screamed again in terrible pain, but it wasn't the only one—as Harry drove the sword into its mouth, he felt a sharp, searing pain just above his elbow and he couldn't help but cry out in agony.

One long, poisonous fang was sinking deeper and deeper into his arm and it splintered as the basilisk keeled over sideways and fell, twitching, to the floor. Harry gritted his teeth in pain as he fell down to the floor, the Basilisk fang stabbed deep into his arm. He took deep breaths as he grabbed hold of it with his other hand, and, biting his lip, he grunted as he yanked it out. He knew it was already too late though—white-hot pain was spreading slowly and steadily from the wound. Even as he dropped the fang and watched his own blood soaking his robes, his vision went foggy. He saw a patch of scarlet fly past, and Harry heard a soft clatter of claws beside him, along with a soft chirping.

"Fawkes," said Harry thickly. "You were fantastic, Fawkes…"

He felt the bird lay its beautiful head on the spot where the serpent's fang had pierced him, and he was surprised to feel something wet falling on his arm. He pondered over this while he heard the sound of approaching footsteps and a dark shadow moved in front of him.

"You're dead, Harry Potter," said Riddle's voice above him. "Dead. Even Dumbledore's bird knows it. Do you see what he's doing, Potter? He's crying. I'm going to sit here and watch you die, Harry Potter. Take your time. I'm in no hurry."

Harry felt drowsy and everything around him seemed to be spinning, moving in and out of focus, the pain still spreading through his body.

"So ends the famous Harry Potter," said Riddle. "Alone in the Chamber of Secrets, forsaken by his friends, defeated at last by the Dark Lord he so unwisely challenged. You'll be back with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry…she bought you twelve years of borrowed time, but Lord Voldemort got you in the end, as you knew he must."

Harry ignored the sound of Riddle's voice, his foggy brain strangely going back into focus. Instead of things going black, everything around him was once again becoming more clear and the pain that was engulfing him was slowly fading away until it was nothing more than a flicker in his arm. What was going on? Was he still dying? Fawkes figure came into full focus and as the last bits of pain was leaving his arm, the last couple of tears were falling down Fawkes' face and onto his skin. It was then that Harry remembered—Phoenix tears have healing powers. Riddle must have realized this as well, because he suddenly shouted at Fawkes to get away from Harry's arm, pulling out his wand and aiming it at the scarlet bird. Fawkes quickly flew away, and Riddle's face was twisted into one of anger and annoyance, and he glared at Fawkes as if he wanted nothing more than to pluck every last feather from his body.

"Phoenix tears," he said. "Of course…healing powers. I forgot. But it makes no difference. In fact, I prefer it this way. Just you and me, Harry Potter…you and me…"

There was another red gleam in Riddle's eyes and he raised his wand, about to perform a curse, when Fawkes suddenly soared back overhead and something fell into Harry's lap—the diary. For a split second, both Harry and Riddle, stared at it and then, without thinking and without considering, as though he had meant to do it all along, Harry seized the basilisk fang on the floor next to him and plunged it straight into the heart of the book. There was a long, dreadful, piercing scream as Riddle suddenly hunched over, gripping his face, which seemed to be slowly peeling off as though he were being burned, a blinding light swirling around him. Ink spurted out of the diary in torrents, streaming over Harry's hands, flooding the floor. Riddle was still screaming, his hands still clasped to his face, his entire body quivering and burning from the light that surrounded him, and then, in a burst of fiery light, he vanished, his dying yells floating throughout the chamber. Harry sat there on the ground, breathing harshly, and staring at the spot where Riddle had disappeared.

He's gone…Riddle's gone. Harry slowly stood up on shaking legs, the diary still in his hand. He walked forward and bent down to pick up the Sorting Hat along with his wand, which had fallen to the ground when Riddle had disappeared, and then, with a little difficulty, he removed the silver sword from the Basilisk's mouth, the tip dropping to the floor with a clang. Then, Harry heard a soft moan coming from the other end of the chamber, and he whipped his head around to see that Ginny had finally woken up, and she was moving on the ground. Harry's heart jumped excitedly in his chest and he ran forward towards her, dropping down next to her as she started to sit up. Ginny blinked a few times, staring around fearfully at her surroundings, and when she caught sight of Harry, tears started welling in her eyes and soon spilled over her pale cheeks.

"Harry—oh, Harry—I tried to tell you at b-breakfast, but I c-couldn't say it in front of Percy—it was me, Harry—but I—I s-swear I d-didn't mean to—R-Riddle made me, he t-took me over—and—how did you kill that—that thing? W-where's Riddle? The last thing I r-remember is him coming out of the diary—"

"It's all right," said Harry, holding up the destroyed diary, and showing Ginny the fang hole. "Riddle's finished. Look, him and the basilisk are both gone. C'mon, Ginny, we've got to get out of here—"

"I'm going to be expelled!" Ginny wept. "I've looked forward to coming to Hogwarts ever since B-Bill came and n-now I'll have to leave and—w-what'll Mum and Dad say?"

"Come on Ginny." Harry said comfortingly as he helped her to her feet. "Everything's going to be okay. Let's get out of here and go back up to the school all right? Ron's waiting for us."

Ginny sniffed and nodded, tears still rolling down her face. Harry took her hand and led her over to Fawkes, who was waiting for them, hovering in the Chamber entrance. Once they were all ready, Fawkes flew into the air and led the way out of the chamber, back through the tunnel.

**Read and Review Please! **


	17. Together Again

**Wohoooo! Second book is DONE! I am sooo excited right now, you guys have no idea! I never ever thought I would get this far and I'm so happy that I already have two books done! Again I'm sorry if the last few chapters were not so good, I swear, I'm never doing anything in just Harry's POV ever again, haha. Well, I hope that you all liked it in the end, I sure did, and I love the scene when Mia and Hermione are reunited with the boys, I've been looking forward to it ever since Mia got petrified. Please read and review, I want to know what you guys think, it's very important to me, and it always inspires me. Any comments, or even any suggestions you have for future book, I would be more than happy to hear them. Hope you all like it, and I'll be starting "Prisoner of Azkaban" as soon as I can, but school starts tomorrow, so I can't make any promises on fast updates. Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter are not mine. **

Chapter Seventeen: Together Again

HPOV

"I seem to remember telling you both that I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules…"

Harry and Ron were standing in Dumbledore's office in front of his desk. The Headmaster himself was seated, peering at both boys over his half-moon spectacles and resting his chin on his folded hands.

The boys themselves looked terrible, especially Harry, who was covered from head to toe in dirt, blood, sweat, and grime, and looking as though he was fantasizing about falling into his bed in Gryffindor tower. They had only just finished explaining the entire story to Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and were very tired. After Harry and Ginny left the Chamber of Secrets, they met up with Ron and Lockhart in the tunnel. Ron was overjoyed to see that his sister was alive and well, and, surprisingly, he pulled her in for a tight hug when he helped her climb through the hole he made through all the rubble from the cave-in. Once Harry had gotten through, they all went up the tunnel by hanging onto Fawkes, who flew all of them back up to the bathroom, where Moaning Myrtle was floating above her toilet. They hurriedly brought Ginny up to Professor Dumbledore's office, where they found him talking with Professor McGonagall and the Weasleys. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley pulled their daughter in for a loving embrace when they saw her, and everyone listened patiently as both Harry and Ron told the whole story from the very beginning. Harry hearing the monster in the walls, finding out about Hagrid's past, Mia and Hermione realizing the monster was a Basilisk, finding the parchment in Hermione's hand, going into the chamber, everything. Harry even explained how he destroyed the dairy, and Ginny tearfully told her parents how she found it in her cauldron after they left Diagon Ally last summer and how she had been writing in it all year.

Ginny had been requested to be sent up to Madame Pomfrey for a full check-up with her parents while Dumbledore asked Professor McGonagall to awaken the school. In light of how the night's events turned out, Professor Dumbledore had said that a grand feast was in order, to celebrate the school staying open and that the threat of the Chamber of Secrets is finally over. Ron seemed happy when Professor Dumbledore mention the revival of the petrified victims, who were supposedly being awoken as they spoke, and Harry beamed at the news. As Ginny, her parents and Professor McGonagall left Professor Dumbledore stayed behind with Harry and Ron, who, at Dumbledore's words, dropped open his mouth in horror.

"Which goes to show that the best of us must sometimes eat our words," Dumbledore went on, smiling. "You will both receive Special Awards for Services to the School and—let me see—yes, I think two hundred points apiece for Gryffindor."

Ron went as brightly pink as Lockhart's valentine flowers and closed his mouth again while Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

"But one of us seems to be keeping mightily quiet about his part in this dangerous adventure," Dumbledore added. "Why so modest, Gilderoy?"

Harry gave a start—he had completely forgotten about Lockhart. He turned and saw that Lockhart was standing in a corner of the room, still wearing his vague smile. When Dumbledore addressed him, Lockhart looked over his shoulder to see who he was talking to.

"Professor Dumbledore," Ron said quickly. "There was an accident down in the Chamber of Secrets. Professor Lockhart—"

"Am I a professor?" said Lockhart in mild surprise. "Goodness. I expect I was hopeless, was I?"

"He tried to do a Memory Charm and the wand backfired," Ron explained quietly to Dumbledore.

"Dear me," said Dumbledore, shaking his head, his long silver moustache quivering. "Impaled upon your own sword, Gilderoy!"

"Sword?" said Lockhart dimly. "Haven't got a sword. That boy has, though, he'll lend you one."

"Would you mind taking Professor Lockhart up to the infirmary, too?" Dumbledore said to Ron. "I'd like a few more words with Harry."

Ron and Lockhart both took their leave from the office, shutting the door behind them. Once they were gone, Harry turned to face Dumbledore, feeling a little nervous.

"Sit down, Harry," Professor Dumbledore said, gesturing towards the chair in front of him, and Harry sat.

"First of all, Harry, I want to thank you," said Dumbledore, eyes twinkling. "You must have shown me real loyalty down in the Chamber. Nothing but that could have called Fawkes to you."

Said bird was currently perched upon Harry's knee, letting him stroke the pillow soft feathers.

"And so you met Tom Riddle," said Dumbledore thoughtfully. "I imagine he was most interested in you…"

"Yes sir," Harry confirmed. He hesitated and then said, "Professor Dumbledore…I couldn't help but notice certain things—certain similarities—between Riddle and me."

"Did you, now?" said Dumbledore, looking at Harry from under his thick silver eyebrows. "And what do you think of this, Harry?"

"I don't think I'm like him!" said Harry. "I mean, I'm—I'm in Gryffindor, I'm…"

But he fell silent, a lurking doubt resurfacing in his mind as he remembered talking to Mia about his hidden fear the last time he was in this office.

"Professor," he started again after a moment. "The Sorting Hat told me I'd—I'd have done well in Slytherin. Everyone thought I was Slytherin's heir for a while…because I can speak Parseltongue…"

"You can speak Parseltongue, Harry," said Dumbledore calmly, "because Lord Voldemort—who is the last remaining ancestor of Salazar Slytherin—can speak Parseltongue. Unless I'm much mistaken, he transferred some of his own powers to you the night he gave you that scar. Not something he intended to do, I'm sure…"

"Voldemort put a bit of himself in me?" Harry said, thunderstruck.

"It certainly seems so."

"So I should be in Slytherin," Harry said, looking desperately into Dumbledore's face. "The Sorting Hat could see Slytherin's power in me, and it—"

"Put you in Gryffindor. Listen to me, Harry. You happen to have many qualities Salazar Slytherin prized in his hand-picked students. His own very rare gift, Parseltongue, resourcefulness, determination, a certain disregard for rules," he added, his moustache quivering again. "Yet the Sorting Hat placed you in Gryffindor. You know why that was. Think."

"It only put me in Gryffindor," said Harry, "because I asked not to go in Slytherin…"

"Exactly, "said Dumbledore, beaming once more. "Which makes you very different from Tom Riddle. It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."

"That's what Mia said before," Harry said, a tiny smile coming to his lips.

"Then Miss Thatcher is an extremely smart young girl," Dumbledore said, smiling. "If you want proof, Harry, that you belong in Gryffindor, I suggest you look more closely at this."

Dumbledore reached across his desk, picked up the blood-stained silver sword, and handed it to Harry. Dully, Harry turned it over, the rubies blazing in the firelight. And then he saw the name engraved just below the hilt.

_Godric Gryffindor_

"Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that out of the hat, Harry," said Dumbledore simply.

For a minute, neither of them spoke. Harry stared down at the sword, and he allowed himself to smile, some of his fears ebbing away. Professor Dumbledore was right—Riddle chose to hurt people, he set his own path, and Harry chose his. He will never be like him. While he was thinking, Dumbledore pulled open one of his desk drawers and took out a quill and a bottle of ink.

"What you need, Harry, is some food and sleep. I suggest you go down to the feast, while I write to Azkaban—we need our gamekeeper back. And I must draft an advertisement for the Daily Prophet, too, as we'll be needing a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher…dear me, we do seem to run through them, don't we?"

Harry nodded and then got up and crossed to the door. He had just reached for the handle, however, when the door burst open so violently that it bounced back off the wall, revealing Lucius Malfoy, dressed in long black robes of the highest standard with silver fastenings, the outmost fury in his face. And cowering behind his legs, heavily wrapped in bandages, was Dobby. Something seemed to click in Harry's brain as he stared at the little house elf—so _this _was Dobby's master! The family he served was the Malfoys.

"Good evening, Lucius," said Dumbledore pleasantly. Malfoy did not return the greeting as he shoved past Harry and walked into the office, with Dobby at his heels. As it appears, Malfoy was furious at the fact that Dumbledore was back at the school after he had been suspended. Dumbledore calmly and cheerfully explained how the other school governors contacted him after Ginny Weasley was taken into the chamber and wanted him back at once. He even hinted that the governors claimed Malfoy had threatened to curse their families if they had not agreed to suspend him in the first place. Harry had to resist the urge to smirk and the look on Malfoy's face.

"So—have you stopped the attacks yet?" he sneered. "Have you caught the culprit?"

"We have," said Dumbledore, with a smile.

"Well?" said Mr. Malfoy sharply. "Who is it?"

"The same person as last time, Lucius," said Dumbledore. "But this time, Lord Voldemort was acting through somebody else. By means of this diary."

He held up the small black book with the large hole through the centre, watching Mr. Malfoy closely. Harry, however, was watching Dobby. The tiny elf was doing something very odd—his great eyes were fixed meaningfully on Harry, and he kept pointing at the diary, then at Mr. Malfoy, and then hitting himself hard on the head with his fist. While Harry was trying to figure out what Dobby was trying to tell him, Dumbledore continued talking to Malfoy, explaining how Ginny had been possessed by the diary, and how Harry had discovered it, so that Ginny was not to be blamed. When the subject turned to how Ginny could have gotten the diary, Harry was still watching Dobby as he pointed to the diary, then at Malfoy, and then hit himself. At that moment, Harry understood what Dobby was trying to say, and nodded at the little creature.

"Don't you want to know how Ginny got hold of that diary, Mr. Malfoy?" asked Harry.

"How should I know how the stupid little girl got hold of it?" he sneered.

"Because you gave it to her," stated Harry boldly. "In Flourish and Blotts. You picked up her old Transfiguration book and slipped the diary inside it, didn't you?"

"Prove it," he hissed, his face pale, but his eyes made of steel.

"Oh, no one will be able to do that," said Dumbledore, smiling at Harry. "Not now that Riddle has vanished from the book. On the other hand, I would advise you, Lucius, not to go giving out any more of Lord Voldemort's old school things. If any more of them find their way into innocent hands, I think Arthur Weasley, for one, will make sure they are traced back to you."

Lucius Malfoy stood for a moment, and Harry distinctly saw his right hand twitch as though he was longing to reach for his wand. Instead, he turned sharply and began striding out the door.

"Come Dobby!" he snapped over his shoulder at the elf. "We're leaving!"

Malfoy thrust open the door and stormed out of the office, with poor Dobby trailing behind him. Harry watched them go, wishing that there was something he could do for Dobby. No one deserved to be treated so badly—he knew from experience. He stood there thinking for a moment until a sudden idea came to him.

"Professor Dumbledore," he said hurriedly. "Can I give that diary back to Mr. Malfoy, please?"

"Certainly, Harry," said Dumbledore. Harry thanked him, then he grabbed the diary off the desk and ran out the door. Hoping his plan would work, he took off one of his shoes, pulled off his slimy, filthy sock, and stuffed it into the diary.

"Mr. Malfoy!" he shouted as he ran to catch up. "Mr. Malfoy! I have something of yours..."

MPOV

Voices. That was the first thing that registered in Mia's brain as she slowly began to wake up from her slumber. There were soft voices surrounding her, and she couldn't make out whose they were. As she grew more conscious, they started to grow louder, and she started to have feeling in the rest of her body. For some reason, her limbs felt extremely stiff, as if they were suffering from lack of use, and her body felt heavy. Her mind was a little groggy and she couldn't figure out exactly what was going on or where she was.

"Miss Thatcher?" came a quiet voice from beside her.

Mia moved her hands ever so slightly against her sides, and she was surprised and confused to feel the crinkling of sheets beneath her. What on earth…

"Miss Thatcher, can you hear me? Miss Thatcher, can you open your eyes for me , dear?"

Mia turned her head ever so slightly towards the voice, and, after a few seconds, she willed herself to open her bleary eyes. She was met with the faint glow of a bedside lamp, and everything was blurry for a moment or two before things started growing into focus. After blinking a couple times, Mia could make out the smiling face of Madame Pomfrey, who was sitting beside her in her night robes and looking positively overjoyed.

"Welcome back Miss Thatcher," she greeted cheerfully.

"M-Ma…Madame Pomfrey?" said Mia, her voice hoarse and a little scratchy, as if she hadn't used it in months.

"There now, save your strength," Madame Pomfrey said, reaching beside her and grabbing a glass of water. "Everything's fine now. Just take a sip of this."

Mia, still confused, did as she was told and allowed Madame Pomfrey to lift the glass to her lips, and she closed her eyes as the cool water refreshed her throat.

"Can you try moving for me?" Madame Pomfrey asked. Mia nodded, and then she tried to sit up in the bed she was resting in. It took about a minute, but once she got used to the feeling in her arms, she was able to sit straight up and lean back against the pillows.

"Where am I?" Mia asked, looking around her.

"You're in the hospital wing dear," Madame Pomfrey replied. "you've been asleep for quite some time. What do you remember?"

Mia frowned at this. Why was she in the hospital wing? She stared around and saw that there were other people in the hospital wing besides herself. Colin Creevey was in the bed directly across from hers, and he was staring sadly down at his camera, which appeared to be broken in his lap. Next to him was Justin Finch-Fletchy, who was speaking with Professor Sprout. What had happened? The least thing that Mia remembered, she was walking down a corridor, and she saw Ginny—

_Oh no!_ Everything instantly came rushing back to Mia in a tidal wave, leaving her stunned and her stomach filled with dread as she remembered what had happened.

"Merlin's beard!" Mia exclaimed, throwing the covers off of herself. "Madame Pomfrey—the Chamber of Secrets—the monster—it's a Basilisk!"

"Miss Thatcher, calm down!" Madame Pomfrey said, placing her hands on Mia's shoulders in an attempt to make her lie back down on the bed. "There's nothing to worry about—"

"Yes there is!" Mia said, sitting back up and trying to stand. "I have to tell Professor Dumbledore—Moaning Myrtle's bathroom—the Basilisk—Ginny Wealsey's controlling it, but it's not her fault—someone's making her do it—"

"Miss Thatcher, keep still!" Madame Pomfrey ordered, trying to place the blankets back over Mia's body. "You can't be moving to much right now—"

"We have to tell Dumbledore!" Mia nearly yelled, once again throwing the blankets off and trying to stand. "We have to go before it attacks someone else—"

"Oh for heaven's sake child, you were more behaved when you were petrified!" Madame Pomfrey sighed exasperatedly, forcing Mia's shoulders against the pillows. Mia stopped trying to get out of bed and stared at the matron.

"Wait…I was petrified?" Mia said in a quiet voice.

"Yes," Madame Pomfrey answered, seemingly relieved that Mia was finally still. "You were petrified for almost three months, Miss Thatcher. You don't have to worry about the chamber anymore—the monster has been killed."

"It has?" Mia said, dumbstruck.

"It has indeed," came another voice. Mia turned her head to see Professor McGonagall walking towards them, a rare smile on her face.

"It's good to see you awake and well Miss Thatcher," she said as she came to a stop beside Mia's bed. "How are you feeling?"

"All right," Mia replied. "Still kind of stiff, but all right. Professor, what's going on? Is the monster really gone?"

"Yes it is, Miss Thatcher," Professor McGonagall answered. "It's a very long story, but to put it simply, Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley managed to take care of it."

"What? Why—oh no, what did they do now?" Mia groaned. McGonagall's mouth twitched and Mia could have sworn she was trying her best not to smile.

"They found the Chamber of Secrets, and Mr. Potter was able to defeat the monster, and the Heir of Slytherin as well."

"But how? I thought Ginny…"

"Miss Weasley has been through a terrible ordeal, but she is perfectly fine now," said Professor McGonagall. "I will let your friends inform you of the details of what happened this evening. In the meantime, you and Miss Granger need to work on getting yourselves strengthened up for the feast—I will see you when Madame Pomfrey deems you fit to come downstairs."

"Granger?" Mia repeated blankly as Professor McGonagall turned and left the wing. She looked over to her right and saw a familiar girl with bushy brown hair and brown eyes sitting up in bed.

"Mione!" Mia yelled, tossing her covers aside and jumping out of bed before Madame Pomfrey could stop her. She ran over to Hermione's bed, stumbling only twice, and then threw her arms around her best girl friend, hiding her face in her shoulder.

"Mia!" Hermione gasped as she returned the hug, wrapping her arms around Mia's frame tightly. "You're awake!"

"Are you okay?" Mia asked as she let go. "You're not hurt are you? Oh Mione, I'm sorry, I didn't want you to get petrified too, I wanted to warn you guys, but the Basilisk—"

"Mia, it's okay," Hermione said, interrupting Mia with a smile. "I'm just glad you're all right."

"Ditto," Mia agreed, leaning back in and giving Hermione a softer hug. "How did you get petrified Hermione?"

"It was a couple months after you were," Hermione replied. "Harry heard the voice again, and I realized that he was hearing some kind of serpent. I went to the library and found a book on Bsilisks, and I figured that was what you must have found out. I went out into the corridor and I ran into the Ravenclaw Prefect—she's in the bed over there—I told her what the monster was, and when she pulled out her mirror…we saw it. I kept the paragraph about the Basilisk in my hand though. I hoped Harry, Ron or one of the teachers would find it."

"I guess they did," said Mia. A thought came to her mind and she bit her lip.

"What happened after I was petrified?" she asked. Hermione sighed.

"It wasn't too good. Everyone was really upset, especially Harry. He wouldn't leave your side, he was here every day, and he barely even talked. He blamed himself for you being attacked, which was ridiculous, but I was feeling the same. I can't imagine how he and Ron got on with the both of us petrified."

"They probably crashed and burned in all our classes," Mia chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. "I can't wait to see them."

"Me too," Hermione said. "I can't believe they solved it!"

Mia and Hermione continued talking about what had happened while Madame Pomfrey checked them over, mumbling under her breath about strapping Mia down to the bed next time she was in the infirmary. The process seemed to drag on, and Mia was starting to grow restless. She wanted to go down to the feast, she wanted to see Harry and Ron. She couldn't imagine how worried they must have been, and she wanted to show them that she was all right, as well as Hermione. Then, after about twenty minutes of being prodded and pinched, the elderly nurse gave Hermione and Mia her permission to leave. The girls didn't need telling twice, for they hopped out of bed and raced out of the hospital wing and out into the corridor. The two witches flew down the staircase, taking them two at a time, and Mia felt her excitement bubbling inside her. Her hair bounced as she ran, and soon enough they came upon the ground floor of the castle, running into the entrance hall. The doors to the Great Hall were open, and Mia could hear the loud chatter of everyone inside. As her and Hermione approached the doors, they were delighted to see Sir Nick coming through them. Sir Nick beamed at the sight of them and floated over.

"Hermione! Mia! Welcome back girls," he said.

"Thanks Sir Nicholas," Hermione said, smiling as well.

"I'm glad you're doing better," Mia added.

"Same to you," Sir Nick said, bowing his head. As he floated away, Mia and Hermione looked into the hall to see a marvelous sight. All the candles and torches were lit, filling the hall with a warm and lively glow that made Mia smile. There was laughter and happiness in every corner of the room, something that has been missing from the castle for many, many months. Everyone was in their pajamas, and eating and drinking well into the late hours of the night. Mia drew her attention to the Gryffindor table, and her heart danced in her chest as she saw two familiar jet black and flaming red heads in the crowd. She could see Harry and Ron speaking with some of the other boys in their dorm, and after a couple seconds, she saw Neville look up. He grinned widely and turned his head back to Harry and Ron, speaking quickly to them. Both boys quickly snapped their heads in their direction, and Mia felt overwhelming joy as she looked at those bright pair of green eyes she has missed so much. In the next second, she was running down the aisle between the two tables, her smile growing even wider and her hair billowing behind her as she moved. Harry jumped up from the table and started running towards her as well, his smile dominating his face and his eyes glowing. She met him at the middle of the aisle, and without another minute to waste, Mia threw her arms around him, nearly tackling him to the ground. Her smile never left her face as she held him close to her, happy that she was with her best friend once again. Harry's arms latched onto her tightly in an iron grip, as if he never wanted to let her go, and he lifted her off her feet, swinging her around in a circle. Mia giggled as he did this, and even when he placed her back on her feet, he still didn't let go, and the two of them stood there for a moment, wrapped up in their hug.

"Mia," he said, sounding so very happy and relieved. "I've missed you so much."

"Missed you too," Mia said, giving him a squeeze. "Um Harry? I love you and all, but I do kind of need to breathe…"

"Oh, sorry," Harry said, slowly removing his arms from around her and taking a step back, his smile still on his face. "I'm just so glad to see you."

"I'm glad to see you too," Mia said, smiling fondly at him. She turned her head to look over at Ron, and she giggled when she saw him blushing at the fact that Hermione had wrapped him up in a hug as well.

"You solved it! You solved it!" Hermione gushed. "I knew you guys could do it!"

"Well…er…thanks…um, yeah…" Ron muttered, looking extremely awkward. Mia kept on giggling, and Hermione soon let go of Ron, a proud and beaming grin on her face. Ron let out a relieved breath, but barely two seconds passed before Mia took Hermione's place.

"What is it with girls and hugging?" he groaned, causing Mia to laugh.

"We just love you that much Ron," Mia said. "And I've gone almost three months without torturing you—I have a lot of work to catch up on."

"Oh joy," Ron mumbled, but Mia could still hear the smile in his voice. They were interrupted by a high squeal and Mia released Ron to see a teary-eyed Jenna Sterling run over to her from the Hufflepuff table, along with Alex and Justin Finch-Fletchy, who Madame Pomfrey must have released after Mia and Hermione. Jenna threw herself at Mia and cried into her shoulder and Alex joined in as well, grinning from ear-to-ear. Mia embraced both of them, smiling and comforting Jenna with soft words while she saw Justin shake Harry's hand, apologizing over and over for ever suspecting him to be the Heir of Slytherin. Mia, Jenna, and Alex only hugged for half a minute before she was nearly ripped out of Jenna's arms to be sandwiched in between two people. Through the tangle of limbs, Mia saw Fred and George beaming happily down at her, squeezing the life out of her tiny body.

"Fred—George—not breathing!" she gasped.

"Mia darling…"

"…we're simply not caring!"

The twins laughed as they gave her an extra hard squeeze before finally releasing her. After giving her a short mock-lecture on wandering the school at night and getting herself petrified, they patted her shoulder and went back to sit with Lee Jordan. Once everything was finally settled down, Mia, Harry, Ron and Hermione sat down at the table to eat, and Mia invited Jenna and Alex to sit with them for a while. Mia sat in between her and Harry, who didn't seem to want remove himself from her side yet. She rolled her eyes at him.

"Harry," she said. "You don't have to keep worrying. I'm okay now, Hermione and I are fine."

"I know," Harry said, giving her hand a tight squeeze. "I'm just glad it's all over."

"Me too," said Mia as she glanced over at the high table. "Wait a minute—where's Hagrid? And Professor Lockhart?"

Ron snorted into his pudding and Hermione looked at him with furrowed eyebrows.

"Well, Lockhart's a long story, we'll tell you tomorrow," Harry replied. "But Hagrid should be here very soon."

And indeed he did. The feats lasted well into the night, and at half past three, the Great Hall door burst open to reveal a cheerful Hagrid, looking better than he ever did, striding into the hall. He looked around the room and the minute he spotted Harry and Ron, he made his way over to them and cuffed Harry and Ron so hard on the shoulders that they were knocked into their plates of trifle, causing Mia and Hermione to laugh. He thanked them over and over again for what they did, and Mia couldn't help but wonder what exactly the boys had been up to since she and Hermione had last seen them. Whatever it was, she knew that it was something good, and she reminded herself to ask them about it tomorrow. After a little while, Jenna and Alex went back to sit with their friends at their house table, giving Mia an extra hug before they left, and no sooner had they gone then when Ginny Weasley came over. She looked much healthier than Mia had ever seen her. Her eyes were once again bright, and most of her color had returned to her cheeks. Ginny stood there looking slightly fearful, not meeting Mia's eyes and she opened her mouth several times, no words really coming out, and she was twisting her hands nervously. Mia simply reached out and took her hand, causing Ginny to look at her. Mia gave her a kind smile and then scooted over to make room. The little redhead gave a small smile in return, and she took a seat next to Mia, quietly reaching for some more cake.

Near the end of the feats, Professor Dumbledore made some announcements before it was time for bed. First and foremost, he told them all that as a school treat, all final exams that were to take place at the end of the year had been canceled. All the students cheered at this bit of news, and Mia practically fainted in relief—she couldn't imagine the horror of having to face the exams in just a couple days' time. Also, due to Harry and Ron's heroic efforts, Gryffindor house received two-hundred points apiece, resulting in them winning the house cup for the second year in a row. All the Gyrffindors cheers wildly at this, clapping and jumping up and down in their excitement. And for the cherry on top, Dumbledore announced that Professor Lockhart would not be returning for he had to be emitted into the hospital to help regain his memory. While almost every single person in the hall cheered at this news, Mia raised her eyebrows at Harry, who merely grinned at her.

"Shame," said Ron, helping himself to a jam doughnut. "He was starting to grow on me."

…..

Mia and Hermione were inside their dormitory, packing away the last of their things for the journey home on the Hogwarts Express that was leaving in an hour. Mia was folding up her robes while Sapphire kept rubbing herself against her leg, obviously happy to be back with her mistress and soaking up all the affection she could. Smiling down at her cat, Mia closed up her trunk with a snap, finally done, and turned to Hermione.

"It's been a crazy year, hasn't it?" she said.

"It sure has," Hermione answered. "Do you think next year will be any better?"

"I highly doubt it, with our luck," Mia giggled, bending down to pick up Sapphire into her arms. "I wonder what we're going to have to face next year. Maybe something cool, like a werewolf."

"Mia, that's not funny," Hermione scowled.

"I'm only joking Mione," Mia grinned.

"I still can't believe we missed so much schoolwork this year," Hermione fretted as she too closed her trunk.

"I'm sure you'll make it all up with all the classes you've picked," Mia said. "Honestly Hermione, how on earth are you going to do all those electives at once? It's just not possible."

"Professor McGonagall said that she might be able to work something out," Hermione said. "She wrote an owl to the Ministry. Anyway, I'm just happy to be going home."

"Me too, I can't wait to see my parents," Mia said. "They must have been so worried…"

"Mine were too," Hermione said. "But at least it's over. Are you ready to go? Harry and Ron are waiting downstairs."

"Yeah, I'm all set," Mia replied, placing Sapphire into her carrier and closing it shut. Once they made sure they had everything, Mia and Hermione went down the spiral staircase to see Harry and Ron waiting for them in the common room, their trunks at their feet, and Hedwig and Scabbers safely secured in their cages. The four friends left the common room and joined everyone else as they walked through the corridors and made their way down to the entrance hall. It was still crowded with students waiting in line to take the carriages down to the train station in the village. Harry and Ron were amazed when they came up front and saw that the carriages were pulling themselves. They managed to grab a carriage along with Rachel Collins and her friend, a black girl wearing Ravenclaw colors, with lovely woven bracelets on her wrists and a friendly smile. They all made pleasant talk as they rolled across the grounds, down the path to the station, where the train was waiting to take them all back to London. Mia talked with Hermione about their trip to France, which Mia was very excited for. She could tell Harry wasn't a little sad, but she assured him that it was only for three weeks, and she would be back in time for them to spend time together before the new school year started.

In no time at all, they had made it to the station, and they helped each other out loading all of their belongings on board. They found an empty compartment, and were soon joined by Fred, George and Ginny. Mia helped Ginny place her trunk on the rack above them, and she looked out the window to see Hagrid ushering the first years onto the train. She pulled the window open and stuck her head out.

"Hagrid! Don't forget to write this summer!" she called out to him, smiling.

"O' course Mia!" Hagrid yelled, waving his colossal hand. "I'll send you lot some rock cakes!"

Mia grinned as she stuck her head back inside, shutting the window as she did so. She took a seat next to Harry, waving at Hagrid as the warning whistle blew and the porters started going up the platform, shutting all the doors and calling out the five minute warning. And then, the train slowly started to move away from the platform, slowly gathering speed until it was leaving Hogwarts and the village far behind in its wake. Mia stared out of the window, watching as the castle grew smaller and smaller, sighing softly when she reminded herself that it would be over two months before she saw it again.

They all made good use of their time during the ride back to King's Cross by playing Exploding Snaps, Gobstones, trading Chocolate Frog cards, and, in Mia and Hermione's case, reading. Harry told them all how he had freed Dobby the house elf from Lucius Malfoy's clutches, and Mia laughed, imagining the look on Mr. Malfoy's face when he saw Dobby with the sock and the diary. She had hoped that Dobby would be able to find work somewhere, and that he was enjoying his freedom. Sapphire, still soaking up Mia's affection, was napping soundly in her lap, flicking her tail back and forth. Harry and Mia shared a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans while Fred and George wrestled each other for the last Chocolate Frog. Mia watched them in amusement, stroking Sapphire's back, and she laughed when they ended up in a heap on the floor. Time passed far too quickly, and soon enough, they found themselves only ten minutes away from King's Cross station. Mia, Hermione and Ginny all left to go and change back into their Muggle clothes in the bathroom while the boys changed in the compartment. When they came back, the train was starting to slow down a little, and they began lifting their things from the racks above them.

"Hey Ginny," said Harry. "What did you see Percy doing, that he didn't want you to tell anyone?"

"Oh, that," said Ginny, giggling. "Well—Percy's got a girlfriend."

Fred dropped a stack of books on George's head, and Mia stumbled, nearly crashing to the floor with her trunk.

_"What?"_

"It's that Ravenclaw prefect, Penelope Clearwater," said Ginny. "That's who he was writing to all last summer. He's been meeting her all over the school in secret. I walked in on them kissing in an empty classroom one day. He was so upset when she was—you know—attacked. You won't tease him, will you?"

"Wouldn't dream of it," said Fred, who was looking like his birthday had come early.

"Definitely not," said George, sniggering.

"Are you sure that this girl wasn't beat upside the head or something?" Mia asked.

"Mia!" Hermione scolded.

"What? It's not like you're not thinking the same," Mia said as Fred and George howled with laughter.

All in all, they were all in pretty high spirits as the train pulled into the station and stopped beside the platform. Everyone on board all swarmed out onto the platform, eager to see their waiting family members. Placing Sapphire back inside her carrier, Mia followed everyone else out into the crowd. Harry wrote down his home number twice on a piece of parchment, then he tore it in two and gave them to Ron and Hermione.

"This is called a telephone number," he said. "I told your dad how to use a telephone last summer—he'll know. Call me at the Dursleys', okay? I can't stand another two months with only Dudley to talk to…"

"Hey!" Mia protested, placing her hands on her hips. "I'm right here you know!"

"Yeah I know," Harry said cockily, grinning as he dodged Mia's fist.

"You watch yourself Potter," she said. "Just because I was petrified doesn't mean I still can't kick your arse."

"You wouldn't do that, you love me too much."

"That's debatable right now," she said as she frowned. "You went into the Chamber of Secrets, fought and nearly got killed by a Basilisk, and faced off against Riddle all by yourself! It figures, the minute Hermione and I aren't there you two cause more trouble than I would've thought you could!"

"I couldn't leave Ginny there, and I had the sword!" Harry argued.

"Yes, but you still got poisoned! You're lucky Fawkes was there or you could have been killed!"

"As much as it pains me to say it, I really missed this," Ron said, grinning as he watched Mia and Harry go at it.

"Shut up Ron!" Mia and Harry said in unison, making Hermione erupt into a fit of giggles. They continued walking until they were next in line to go through the enchanted barrier separating them from the Muggle world. Ron and Hermione went through first, and Harry and Mia were next. He turned to Mia and smiled widely.

"Good to have you back Mia," said Harry.

"Good to be back," Mia said, smiling as well. "Now and always?"

"Forever and ever," Harry answered, taking her hand in his. Together, they ran towards the barrier and ventured to the other side, where they were met immediately by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, the Grangers, and the Thatchers, all smiling and waving frantically at them. Mia couldn't help but smile.

_It really is good to be back… _

**Read and review please!**


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